Starting from the Remnants
by Neonpresslick
Summary: Four friends end up having to put on a show for the god of death. Forced to live through multiple universes, the first world he's dropped them into is the World of Remnant. With knowing what they know from the Volumes, they will have to fight their way through the events to come and try to save as many characters as possible.
1. Chapter 1

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **Starting from the Remnants**

The trees seemed to embrace us as we ran deeper into the forest, the sound of death fast approaching. I was in the lead while the others ran behind me. Lucas caught up to my side.

"How the hell do we keep getting ourselves stuck in these kinds of situations?" he asked. He started gaining momentum as his second wind kicked in. I thought about his question for a hot second. How did we get into this situation? Let's track this from the beginning.

* * *

My name is Drew. I like to think I lead a normal life. I went to college, work at an anxiety ridden job and have mostly normal friends.

The day had gone as normal as possible. I worked my shift, got home and saw that everyone was going out for bevs at the mall, so naturally I decided to tag along. We all met up at my friend Lucas's house to car pool together. I pull up and see everyone standing outside.

"Hey, what's up Drew? Took ya long enough." shouted Lucas as I pull up beside his car.

I get out of my car and see that it's just him, Julie and Shaun. "Did no one else show up?" I asked.

"Na, the rest all bailed on us at the last minute, now get in already." replied Julie as she slipped into the car.

I jumped into the passenger front as Shaun sat behind me. Lucas pulled up his anime playlist as he pulled out of his space.

Shaun poked his head between the seats, "So, what have you been up to?"

"Not much, same old same old. Trying not to kill my coworkers every day, you know the routine."

"Yea, you tell us every time. I don't even know why I ask anymore." Shaun replied.

"Because you care." I sarcastically retort.

He scoffed as he recoiled back into his seat. Of course there was more, but I don't like to bog down my friends with my own personal problems. I wouldn't ever want to reveal any of my weaknesses to the only people who can stand to be around me.

The ride to the mall was pretty none eventful after that. I just kind of kept to myself like I normally do. We went in and found a nice place to sit and drink for a while. I caught up with what everyone was doing at the moment. Lucas finally got his own apartment, Shaun was still going to college and Julie just broke up with her latest boyfriend.

"And then he told me that my manga collection sucked! I mean, what kind of person disuses a women's manga?" Julie yelled while clinging to Shaun. Shaun just continued to play on his phone trying to ignore her.

"That just means that he wasn't worth your time" I reply hoping she takes the hint and just stops talking about their breakup. Hearing about other people's relationships always brought me down.

"Ya, I guess your right. Not really any point in going forward with someone who has so many dissimilar interests." she finalized, taking in the fact that maybe she just has to wait and find the right guy instead of just putting herself out there all of the time.

"So Drew, while we're on the subject, have you found someone yet?" asks Lucas. He must know that I haven't, but I play along.

"Na. You know me, I prefer to avoid awkward situations if I can. I just don't have the confidence you or Julie have to just try and find someone." I answer, hoping it was sufficient enough to quell the part of him that is fixated on my social life for some reason.

"I figured, but just so you know. We're all rooting for you. You'll find someone just as hopelessly romantic and awkward as you some day." he says as he starts to stand up.

We all pay our tabs and head out. The drive home was quiet. Julie and Shaun were both sleeping in the back with Julie resting her head on his shoulder. Meanwhile Lucas and I were in the front chatting away trying to keep each other awake enough to make it back.

"You still doing okay? You weren't as talkative tonight as you usually are man." Lucas asks. I don't know why, but he always seems to be the pillar of our small group of misfits.

"Ya" I respond, "I just have a lot going on at the moment." I look out the window trying to focus on the night sky. I don't like talking about my depressing life, so I try to avoid any confrontation about it.

"Look, if you ever need to talk about anything we're all here for you. We're here for each other. If something's bothering you just feel free to talk to us, okay." Lucas states.

I look over at him wondering what he's thinking. I couldn't bring my mistakes into their lives. I don't ever want my baggage to weigh any of them down.

Lucas continues, "I know you aren't the most social member of the group, and that's okay. But there is a limit to how much a person can take. I know that more than most."

I was beginning to process what he was saying. How does he know more than most? I was thinking about it for a second, but then I saw it. Those lights behind Lucas's head. They were getting larger, and brighter.

"So please, don't think you can handle everything on your own. Just remember that..."

"Lucas stop!" I yell, reaching for the wheel to try and swerve us out of the way. He didn't even have time to process what I said and look at what was coming. It had been that fast.

We were dead.

But then we weren't.

A void, stretching out for an eternity. That was all that I saw. I don't know how long I was there, but it felt unnatural. Then with a rush a world popped into existence. First the ground manifested itself as sort of a grassy hill. Then a tree at the top, and what looked to be a forest formed at the bottom. Then as if they were there the whole time my three friends were standing beside me.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!" yelled Lucas. He was in a frenzy. I've never seen him like that before. Tears were rolling down his face, his eyes looked as if someone stabbed him in the heart and just kept twisting it. He stood the furthest away from all of us, the other two looking to be in shock were just standing there with blank faces.

"Where are we?" questions Julie.

"Wasn't I just in the car dozing off? What happened?" wondered Shaun.

Then in front of us appeared a dude. That's the best way to describe him, just a dude. Like straight out of a bad 80's sitcom sort of dude. He looked like a cross between Ryan Reynolds and Jimmy Fallon.

"You are all dead." he answered, plain and nonchalantly.

"What do you mean we're dead?" asks Julie, terror and dread starting to spread across her face.

"I mean all four of you are dead, and I should know since I'm the god of death. Sup." the supposed god of death answered. "If you don't want to call me the god of death every time you reference me, you can just call me Greg."

Greg? Did the god of death just call himself Greg? And is this really what happens after we die? Maybe I just got knocked into a coma and this is my brain trying to keep me asleep or something.

"And before you ask, no you are not in a coma." Greg said looking over in my direction.

"What exactly happen?" asks Shaun, who seemed to be the most calm other than myself after that last revelation.

"Well, it seems that on your way home from your little group meetup, your car was hit pretty harshly by a loaded down tanker. Luckily the driver survived so I don't have to deal with him as well, but you four didn't make it." Greg explained.

"It's my fault." I hear Lucas whisper to himself. "I should have been paying more attention to the road. If I was, then I could have been able to swerve out of the way or something, but instead I just didn't see it. I killed us." Lucas said, a morbid look on his face. I was about to try and tell him that it wasn't his fault when Greg interrupted me.

"Well, it doesn't matter who's fault it is, because in the end you're all still dead. But that's about to change. You see, you aren't talking personally to the god of death for no reason. I have decided to give you all chances at life again." he begins to explain.

"You mean not everyone gets a face to face credits reel with the man himself, the almighty Greg?" Julie questions sarcastically. I'm guessing she was trying to cheer everyone up a bit, not that it helped at all, but at least someone was trying.

"You're right. You see, being the god of death is a pretty taxing job. You wouldn't believe how many antidepressants my doctor has me taking daily. I need something to invest in, something to look forward to. So, you guys dying at just the right time bought you all some extra lives. Congratulations!"

Julie and Lucas looked disgusted. Shaun just looked, annoyed? Wary? Meanwhile I was just standing there accepting it all. If this guy was going to give us another chance at life then I was all for it.

"So what your saying is that you want to revive us so we can put on a show for you?" Julie accused Greg.

"To put it bluntly, yes. But if you want I can just find some other people who've just died and revive them and leave you to roam around purgatory for all of eternity." he stated with an innocent smile painted on his face. Julie stopped talking after that.

"So, to put it simply I will let you live through a few lives. All of which will take place in different realities. Wouldn't be much fun if I just dropped you back into your normal life now would it. You could be brought back together, with a few of your friends, or by yourselves. Also the time frame your revived in will vary depending on the reality. So without further adieu, let's get on with it. This first world is going to be a fun one." he explained quickly. Without a moments notice the ground was gone beneath us and the trees vanished before our eyes. "Good luck, and try to work as a team for this one." Greg yelled as we were whisked away.

Blackness. Thankfully not the void this time. I open my eyes and take stock of my surroundings.

A dorm room, or what looked to be a dorm room. This was all happening a little too fast for my brain to process. I sit up, trying to not give myself a headache while thinking about everything that just went down. I look around and see Shaun, Julie and Lucas all sleeping in similar beds to mine, except there was something different about them. I get up and I nearly lose my balance. I was lighter, and leaner. For some reason this dorm room looked familiar, but I just couldn't think of why. There were our four beds, a bookshelf and small desk accompanying each one, and there also looked to be a metal suitcase at the foot of each bed. I hesitantly crouch down and lift mine up onto my bed. I glance over to see if anyone else has started to wake yet, but none have risen. I undo the clasps on the case and slowly open it, thinking that what was inside would reveal what world we now inhabit.

"Fuck me." I exclaim.

Inside the case was a weapon, but not just any weapon. My dream weapon. I shove the case aside and run to the window. I look outside and see what I was hoping for.

"Looks like I've got a lot of work ahead of me." I say to myself, mentally preparing for the roller coaster of emotions this world would inevitably bring to me.

We were in Beacon Academy. In Vale. In the world of Remnant.

"This is going to be fun." Greg said to himself as he kicked back and started to watch these four friends as they begin their journey in the first world he picked.

RWBY.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading the first chapter of my first official fan fiction. I apologize if the pacing is a bit off, I'm still trying to hone in on what good pacing feels like to write. Also I apologize if this was a lot of setup, I just felt that if I just dropped these four straight into the world of Remnant without a little bit of character development from the normal world then it just wouldn't have felt right. I will have them discovering all of their semblances and weapons in the next chapter which is what I'm really excited for, so hopefully I will be able to upload that faster than how long it took me to finish this. I'm not really sure on an upload schedule, so to start off with I will just be updating this as I finish each chapter, I do however have a storyboard already written out all the way through to about the second volume, I just have to add a lot of character development along the way.**

 **Thanks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **Team DLIA**

I take the time I have before the others wake up to take inventory of everything we've been given, everything to start our new lives in Remnant. Other than my weapon case, I find a scroll that apparently belongs to me, or rather the person that I've become. Luckily it has all of the information about ourselves, our weapons, semblances, history and most importantly classes that we have to attend. Great, more schooling. I take note and remember everything word for word. Reading it for the twentieth time I still felt excitement as I read over my weapon schematic. After I take it all in, I notice a few books on my bookshelf, as well as a few different ones on the other's shelves as well. I kneel down to see if they're just text books, and some of them are. There is one on weapon maintenance which I won't really need to learn for my weapon, one on the history between the humans and faunus, and what looks to be a sort of chronicle about different types of Grimm. Weirdly enough there were also some books straight off of my personal bookshelf from back home, so I'm guessing Greg (I can't believe I'm actually calling him Greg) sent those with us to help with the transition from dying in our world and living in this new one.

I finish my search and start getting ready for the day ahead. While reading through my scroll I learned that today was the day right after initiation, and that it was also a free day to help teams get acquainted with each other before classes start tomorrow. I take a quick shower and find my clothes. Looks like I still have the same tastes in clothing. For my battle gear, I have a bluish trench coat adorn with a clasp near the neck if I wanted to turn the coat into a cape. A pocket on the inside of the coat shows that I could probably fit I book in it if I wanted to. I put on a dark gray pair of trousers, shirt and button down, along with a pair of black shoes. Holding the trousers up I have a moderately heavy belt that has a few holds for my weapon. I just finish putting on my ensemble when the other three start to arise from their slumber.

"Where the fuck are we!?", Julie exclaims as she sits up. The other two slowly start to rise. Lucas looking like all of the life had been drained from his eyes. Shaun seemingly looked indifferent about our situation.

"We are in a dorm room." I answer.

"No shit Sherlock. What universe are we in?" Julie asks sarcastically

"Cutting to the chase, we're in the RWBY universe. Anyone else keep up with the show?"

I look over at Lucas. He still looks like he's in another plane of existence. I know I tried to get him into RWBY a few years ago, but he couldn't get over the animation in the first season to really appreciate it like I did. As far as I know he only saw the first few episodes.

"I kept up with it a little bit." piped up Shaun.

Thank Christ. Someone else at least has some bearing on this world other than myself. I look over to Julie. She just shakes her head. Well, at least I've got Shaun.

"All right then. I think we should just get this out of the way then. I did a bit of rummaging while you three were still asleep and found a few things. First, we each have a personal scroll that basically tells us everything about ourselves. From our past to our present. And for you two who don't know the first thing about this world, a scroll is basically a holographic smart phone. Our uniforms and combat gear are in our personal closets and our weapons are in these cases. I say we each go around the room and list everything off. If there are any questions we ask as we go on. Agreed?"

Julie grabs her scroll and starts reading. Shaun drops down onto the floor and looks through his case. Unfortunately Lucas doesn't look like he's willing to make a move. Still hunched over, a plethora of emotions swimming across his face now. I walk over to him and place my hand on his shoulder. He looks up at me and whispers "How are you okay with this. I killed us."

I grab his other shoulder and pull him into a hug. Shaun and Julie look over with shocked looks. I don't think they've ever seen me show affection before, so this was new to them. "You didn't kill us. And if I hear you say that you did one more time I will throw you off of a cliff. You were in the right. Whatever that other driver was doing, they were in the wrong. You couldn't have done anything to prevent it. The best you can do is keep moving forward. Now, are you going to just sit there until we all die of old age, or are you going to help us get through this world?" I release him and give him a small smirk.

Lucas looked at me with new found vigor. "Alright. But we will need a run down about what to expect from this world."

"I would be delighted."

So, the better part of an hour was spent on me explaining the entire summary of RWBY to the best of my abilities. Not that I don't like discussing RWBY, it's just that when you have to go over everything with such fine details, it does drag you down a bit. Lucas and Julie had a few questions here and there, but in the end I think they understood it. I think.

"So, now that we have the story and the world summary out of the way, we should probably get to our personal stuff. If possible I would like to go last to catch my breath from talking for so long, so who wants to go first?"

"I guess I can" Lucas steps up to the plate.

"Since we all have pretty much the same history as far as I can tell, I'll skip over that and get right to the important shit. My name in this world is Lucas Platina. My physical body is pretty much the same as it was back in our home world. Same short black hair, darkish skin color and hazel eyes. Although my eyes seem to have a bit more red in them. The clothes that I have for combat consist of a black suit jacket, a red undershirt, black trousers and black shoes. My semblance is called Shadow Meld. Basically I can blend with shadows and control them to a degree. My weapons are two red sickles that are chained together, so I can use them for close combat or at close range."

"Hopefully when we start sparing you'll be able to do some sickle chain combos with your weapon then." Julie snickers. Lucas punches her on the shoulder. "For that bad pun, you go next."

Rolling her eyes, Julie starts. "In this world my name apparently is Iris Julie Korzac, and as you've probably noticed I am a fox faunus with fox ears." Lucas starts to grab them when Julie snaps at his wrist. "Touch them and I break your arm."

"Dooley noted. Continue."

Sighing she starts again. "I'm still a brunette, thankfully, and it's still the same as it was before with it just going down to the small of my back. I think I might braid it if we're going to be doing a lot of fighting though. My eyes are olive green now instead of brown. My semblance is Future Sight. It basically allows me to see into the future by 2 seconds, and I can only use it on people. My weapon is a bow that can break apart and turn into two blades. Not as impressive as being able to bend shadows, but I can work with it." I take note that her combat outfit is also somewhat similar to Velvet's, with the addition of a brown jean jacket and a black quiver for arrows.

We all turn towards Shaun. He sighs and starts listing off everything. "In this world my name is now Aiden Shaun Patriarch. I'm guessing Greg couldn't find a way to fit Shaun or Julie into the color rule. My hair is still blond, but now it has lavender highlights on the ends. My eyes are now purple instead of light blue. My combat attire is a lavender and white suit which to me looks kind of similar to the suit that Ironwood wears and a pair of white shoes. My semblance is called Damage Switch. It allows me to build up damage, and when I choose I can deal that damage back to whoever I wish. Every scratch and cut will be transferred, but if I take to much damage then I run the risk of transferring only a random amount of hits. My weapon is a simple gun that can transform into different models. It has a pistol form, a light assault rifle form, a shotgun form and a short range sniper form. Paired with the gun is a pair of glasses which sync with the gun and can provide target tracking, dust switching and a bullet count."

As Shaun ended his info dump all three of them turned towards me. I take a deep breathe and start listing off everything.

"First off, in this world my name is Drew Azzurum. As you can see, my hair is still the deep red that you all know and love. Eyes are still hazel colored. My semblance is called Technobabble, which actually works lovely with my weapon. It allows me to converse with computers and AI allowing me to control most tech with the touch of a finger. My weapon is this." I hold up my case and showcase the bracelets and canisters inside. There are two bracelets that fit over my arms just above the wrists, and there are a total of eight canisters. "The bracelets are a sort of anchor, and the canisters are filled with nanobots, or just bots for short. In their default mode they use four canisters and create a gauntlet on each arm. Using my mind and my semblance I can transform the bots into pretty much any weapon I desire. My imagination is my limit. I can attach more canisters onto my belt and use them if need be, but the more bots I use the more stretched thin I'll get. Also I am apparently the team leader, the team being named Team Dahlia, or DLIA if we just use the initials. Also I'm a half faunus on my mother's side. The only trait I seem to have is a small patch of scales on the back of my neck. And that's about it."

We all take in the information about our new selves. These weapons that we have to use, and semblances that are apart of us now. It all feels like too much, but it also feels natural.

"So from here on, I think we have to refer to you two as your new first names unfortunately." I state, expecting backlash. Luckily none came.

"I like Iris, I think it suits this new me. How about you Shau… uh, I mean Aiden."

"It'll take some getting used to, but I can make do. So, now that we've shared all of our character info, I think we should start to formulate a plan to live through this world."

Straight and to the point, just like usual.

"Alright then. Let's get started."

* * *

 **Wow. This was a big info dump. I apologize if it was a lot to take in. I honestly had plans on making this chapter longer and adding the planning stage and the next two story beats, but I realized that after all of that it probably would have been a bit much. If there are any questions about the characters descriptions, their semblances or their weapons feel free to ask. I'm sorry if my drawing is bad, especially for the cover art, but I don't have a good program to do it on my computer, also no drawing pad to use.**

 **Thanks.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **Punching Bag**

Aiden pulled off one of the notebooks on his shelf so we could start the plan. We all sit in the middle of our room as we started our scheming.

"Can we not call it scheming. You're making it sound like what we're doing is wrong or something. Let's just call it planning for the future." Iris exclaimed as she laid down in between Lucas and Aiden.

Lucas responded "Yea, but it's fun calling it scheming. Now then let's get down to business."

"Okay" I start "So first things first, we should prioritize not messing with the main story. If we change anything too drastically then we lose our advantage of knowing what happens next. Secondly we should try to save as many characters as possible. Definitely Pyrrha if we can figure out how saving her will change the future. Personally I really want to try and save Roman if possible."

Iris gasps. "Really Drew? From what you told us he isn't really a good guy. If we just let him die then he won't be a problem for us in the future, so why mess with it?"

"Let me put it this way. I think I know a way to win him over to our side. With his talent for thieving and manipulating people I think we could have a shot at forming a team to help us get through this world. Plus if we let him die then we have to deal with Neo in the future for letting him die, and I would rather have her on our side then the opposing. If I can manage to win him over then maybe with a little more convincing I could maybe get Hazel on our side, and even Cinder and her two goons if I can manage it. The big problem is going to be getting RWBY and JNPR to go along with our plans. They won't abandon Ozpin until they find out his backstory. Plus after witnessing Penny's destruction they won't exactly be so keen on following us if they found out that we knew about it, but didn't stop it. Even if we tell them that she gets rebuilt in Atlas, I don't think they'll trust what we say until they see her in person. So we might need to find another way to win them over."

Lucas looks over at me, shock and worry painted over his face. "You talk like we're going to lead an army against Salem and Ozpin. Like we're going to unit the forces of good and evil to take down both sides of this war."

"We are. I'm fairly sure I know a way to defeat Salem, but we need Ms. Rose onboard with us. And I don't trust Oz at all, so after we defeat Salem he'll be next on our chopping board. We just have to figure out if there is a way to kill Oz without hurting Oscar."

"What you're planning is a suicide pact. If even one character catches on and turns on us, we'll get stabbed in the back and lose. It'll be a miracle if we even make it as far as Volume 5." Aiden adds.

"But it's the only plan that will put us on top. That will ensure that we deal out the orders. We'll have to keep them from tearing each other apart, but we'll make it happen. So, who's onboard?"

Aiden thinks to himself for a second. He looks over our plan several times before making his decision. "It's a shame this isn't Code Geass. If we had a Lelouch working with us then this plan would be perfect, but with the right amount of winging it I believe we can make it work."

Lucas shrugged. "If it's good enough for Shau… God dammit. Sorry, I'm still getting used to the new names. If it's good enough for Aiden to agree to it, then I'm in."

All three of us turn towards Iris. "Fuck it, I'm in. Don't really have much of a choice now do we? It'll be a hot mess, but we'll get through it. Together."

I stand up. "Well, if we have everything settled then I'm going to head to the gym. Break in my new weapon." I turn to leave as the others all stand up too.

"Hold on a minute now. There's still one thing we have left to do." Iris exclaims as she runs to her weapon. I turn around with a questioning smile. "Oh, and what would that be?"

"We have to name our weapons, duh. To signify our first step in this world. Anyone got a name for theirs?"

Aiden looked at her, then at his gun. "Precision."

Iris scuffs, "Really, of all the names you could have went for and you picked, Precision. Well I guess it could have been worse. Lucas how about yours?"

Lucas juggled his sickles in his hands, wrapping the chain around is forearm. "I think I'll call them, Rensa Kiba." He smiled as he spun the right sickle like a windmill.

"Chained fangs. Cool translation, but it kind of sounds a bit like someone just trying to go for a cool sounding name." Iris smirked.

Lucas just looks offended. "Well fuck you too princess. What kind of name do you have for your fucking sword bow thingy."

"Well, since you asked nicely, I think I'll name my _sword bow thingy_ Duality's Edge."

"Wow, way to be a try hard. And you said that my name sounded like I was trying too hard to come up with a cool sounding name."

Iris stuck her tongue out at Lucas, annoyed by his constant berating. She looked at me as I turned to walk out of the room. "So Drew, what are you going to call your weapon?"

As I reach the door I stop. I take a second to think about a name, then I answer as I walk out. "Don't know, but I'm about to go find one."

As I leave, Iris turns back towards the guys. "Well, that didn't sound ominous at all. Say, while Drew's out why don't we go and chat up some of the other teams?!" She asks as she jumps, pulling Aiden to the door.

"I don't know. What if we accidentally change a character's motivation or something by talking with them too much." Lucas asks as he follows the pair out the door.

"Oh come on Lucas, what could possibly come from us just saying hello to our new dorm mates?" Iris replies as she pulls Aiden down the hall.

* * *

It took me a few minutes before I found the gym. Luckily I didn't run into any main characters or anything as I made my trip there. Just a few shadow people. Hopefully that won't be a normal thing for the near future. I allow myself in and see that there's no one there. I take in my surroundings. At the far end of the gym looks to be a stage for sparring. I remember the scene where Cardin beats up Jaune and I silently hope to see that in person. On the left side of the room is a lot of exercising equipment. Mostly ellipticals, weight lifting machines and punching bags. In the center of the room are some sparring rings for smaller fights, and on the right side of the room there looks to be a sort of holo room for testing different strategies and tactics while fighting.

I step up to one of the punching bags and take my stance. I activate my gauntlets so that they act sort of like pistons so that when I punch it creates a second impact. I unleash hell on the bag, every punch I throw dealing more damage as my intensity grows stronger. With one last hit I blast the bag off of it's holder and across the gym. I take in how much stronger I can be with this new body, this weapon of mine. What I could accomplish, and how easy it could be. I needed something more challenging.

I walk over to the holo room and try to open it. It's locked. "Dammit." I think for a second, then realized that it wasn't that much of an issue. I place my hand on the keypad and used my semblance. Turns out doors have a lot to say. After a few seconds I get the hang of it and unlock it. I step into the room. "So Danger Room, what have you got for me today." I ask waiting for a response. Unfortunately none came. I spot what looks to be a control panel on the far side of the room. I take a closer look and find that it has different levels of combat situations. "Alright then, let's start with a beginners course." I press the easy mode and I'm instantly transported to what looks to be a village of some sorts. The sky is black, and the houses were burning. Then, out from behind the houses lurked the Grimm. About a dozen beowolves start encircling me as I take my stance.

"Bring it." I launch myself at the beowolves, creating two swords to cut through them. Five minutes later a bell rings. Having slaughtered all the grimm I smile evilly. "This is going to be fun." I turn to the control panel and pick the hardest mode. Having thought the easy mode was too easy, maybe the hardest mode will offer some sort of challenge for me. I press start and I instantly sense something coming for my head. I dodge to my right and roll into a crouching position creating a sword and shield to use to defend myself. I take note that I'm now somewhere in the mountains. What was coming for me was a person wielding what looks to be a four foot long sword and a three foot short sword. There wasn't much detail in the person, just a bluish looking avatar. I guess whoever created the program wanted the students to be informed about fighting other people, but didn't want them to look too realistic for the sake of causing trauma. I didn't really care either way, as long as they put up a good enough fight. I lunge towards them and they jump at me. They speed toward me, intending to try and impale me with their long sword. I duck and deflect it with my shield and in return try and swipe at their left side with my sword, but they deflect it with their short sword. I create some distance though and come at them from the side. I bash them with my shield, making it bigger and adding more of a focused point in the center of the shield to try and deal more damage. Then I extend my leg to try and take out their legs to put them on the ground, but they jump back in time to dodge the move. I rush them again, and they move to defend themselves from the impact of my shield, but instead of just ramming them again I drop the shield and sword and create a bo staff. Just before reaching them I vault over and land behind them creating a long sword, and with all my strength I cut them down from behind.

Taking a moment to catch my breathe, I wait a moment for the bell to ring, but it never came. Instead I look up and see a few more avatars lying in wait. I take a deep breathe in and turn my gauntlets back into pistons. "Now this is more like it."

Ten minutes passed before I finally defeated the last avatar. Winded, I look at the time. "Again." This time I was prepared. I cut down the first attacker and proceeded to defeat the rest of the wave in the proceeding seven minutes. "Again." Then it took five minutes.

"Again." I turn and create a stalemate with my would be assassin. Holding their swords off with two of my own, I close my eyes and replace the avatars with my soon to be enemies. I open my eyes to see that I'm face to face with Tock. Grinning ear to ear, she jumps back and runs at me from my right. I jump to my left and spin behind her, locking the sword in my right hand into the hilt of the sword in her left, ripping it out of her grip. "Great, now the right one." I create a rapier and dash towards her, jabbing at her as fast as possible. She blocks most of the hits, but I manage to get a few cuts in. Eventually I wear her down. Dismantling the rapier I transform the gauntlets into pistons again, punching her forearm to disarm her and then with all my force I gut punch her sending her flying across the rocky landscape.

Next came Mercury and Emerald. Emerald lashed at me with her chained blades while Mercury runs up my left side. I catch the chain and look to my left. Mercury jumps off a cliff wall and goes for an axe kick to my face, instead I dodge and twist the chain around his leg, pulling him to the ground. In one move I form my piston and beat his face into the ground. Emerald rushes me, pulling her blade back and shooting me as she runs straight for me. I create a rapier and shield, and just as she gets within reach, I create an opening in my shield, stabbing straight through and impaling her. "Three down, a fuck ton to go." I chuckle as the next pair enter the field.

Roman saunters towards me, twirling his cane like he owns the joint. From behind him Neo dashes out and attacks. She tries to jab me with her umbrella, but to no avail. I deflect her, then create a mace ready to bring it down on her head. I ready my attack, but it's stopped by Roman's cane. With my arm locked above my head and my mace trapped in Roman's attack Neo races to land a killing blow, but I outsmart them. I disassemble the mace throwing Roman off balance, then in one swift movement I create a long sword and dodge to my right. With the momentum Neo built with her run up she misses me and stabs Roman in the back, and with a quick swipe I cut her down right behind him.

High off of my battle with the goons, I stalk towards what should be a nice challenge. Tyrian, Cinder and Hazel all stand before me. I grin and motion for them to come at me. Tyrian accepts my challenge and rushes me. I meet his fighting spirit with claws of my own and we hold each other in a stalemate. I notice Cinder jumping over us and rushing me from behind. I beat Tyrian's embrace with my own brute force and push him back. Dodging to my right I meet Cinder's attack with a shield. She jumps back and fires at me with her bow. I cut through her arrows as I rush her, but before I could land a blow I get tackled by Hazel. He shoulder bashes me across the terrain. As I topple over myself I correct my fall and create a sword to slow my roll. Hazel is still rushing me, so I decide to fight fists with fists. I create my pistons again and I run to bash him in, but when I get into striking distance Tyrian jumps over him and slashes at me. Guarding myself I deflect his attack to only get punched in the gut by Hazel. Collecting myself from the attack I take a quick second to formulate a strategy to take all three of the combatants down in one go.

I rush Cinder with a long sword in the right hand and a dagger in my left. As I approach her Hazel rushes from my right. I make like I'm still aiming for Cinder, but really my focus is solely on Hazel and what I can assume to be Tyrian following close behind him. As he gets within striking distance I jump around Hazel and spot Tyrian ready for me. He goes to stab me with his pincers, but I slice at them. He grabs my sword, which I use to my advantage. I pull him closer and shove my dagger between his ribs, then I focus on Hazel who has now altered his charge and is coming for me again. I deflect another arrow as I face Hazel. This time I don't just dodge him, I slide to the left of him and cut him down at his knees. Standing up I ram the sword through his back and into the ground. I turn towards Cinder and raise my sword at her, showing her that she's next. She gets off three arrows before I get to full speed. I deflect the first two and cut the third down the shaft. She brings up her swords and deflects my killing blow. I try my damndest to break her stance, but can't find a flaw. I spin around a few times to gain momentum, and before I strike I turn my sword into a hammer to rival Magnahild. It snaps her swords like twigs and before she can dodge I twist the hammer to cave in her chest, sending her flying faster than her avatar can go through the death animation. I turn around thinking she was the last only to be met with one more opponent. Standing in front of me, arms open wide, is Salem. Filling my head with anger and adrenaline I dash forward. Creating the sharpest, most versatile sword I can muster I deliver a swift and heavy blow that was sure to cut her down, but instead it was meet with naught.

I turn and see that the room had reverted itself back into the basic holo room, the battle simulation was uncompleted, and standing at the control panel was none other than Ozpin.

"You know, breaking into the holochamber isn't exactly the best impression one can make on their first day of school." Ozpin remarks making his way towards me. I turn to look at him. "Ozpin." I growl. I walk towards the door, bumping his shoulder as I pass him.

"Mr. Azzurum. I know that you are an amazing fighter, as shown by the results of your training, but don't let your accomplishments obscure your outlook. You still have a lot to learn before you graduate."

I stop dead in my tracks and look over my shoulder. "Do I now?" Ozpin's face contorts into a more questioning look. He didn't understand why Drew was being so hostile towards him all of a sudden.

I sigh, and walk towards him with menace in my step. "Let me make myself crystal clear Ozpin. I don't trust you. I know what you've done and frankly I just want you to be gone. So, in the future, stay away from my team, team RWBY, and team JNPR." I end face to face with him. My eyes piercing his. It's like I'm staring into an uncanny void. I turn and head for the door. I'm about to leave when I turn my head. "I know a lot of people fear and respect you, but frankly I don't give a damn." I open the door and walk out, but before the door closes I finish. "I don't give a damn about you, or Salem." And with that I left.

Ozpin stares at the door in disbelief. How could a student know about her? He grabs his scroll and rings up Glynda. "Glynda. Yes, I know this is a bad time but I require your assistance. I need you to find every possible record on a student of ours. Drew Azzurum." Glynda questions why specifically this student. "Call it a hunch, but I've got a bad feeling about him."

* * *

Storming out of the training room I decide to walk around campus for a bit. Thinking about what Ozpin has done, and what he's going to do didn't help my anger. I take a look at the programming in my gauntlets and find that it's synced with my scroll. As I'm walking I find that my entire music library is there. Great. At least I know that if we can't change this world by fighting it we might still have a chance at changing it with the help of music. I laugh at the idea. Now that would be a remake I would watch.

I continue to walk until I find what looks to be a sort of zen garden. Just sitting on the outskirts of the campus. A little hilly area with a waterfall and stream running through it. A stone path leading up to a spot underneath a tree. Looks relaxing enough to take my mind off of things.

I walk up the path and sit under the tree. Deciding to unwind a bit, I look around to see if there's anyone nearby, and luckily there isn't anyone to be found. I scroll through my list of songs and find the perfect one. I hit play and transform my gauntlets into a sort of keyboard. I then proceed to sing and play the unplugged version of Take On Me.

 _We're talking away_

 _I don't know what_

 _I'm to say I'll say it anyway_

 _Today's another day to find you_

 _Shying away_

 _I'll be coming for your love, okay?_

 _Take on me_

* * *

Blake was walking along, fed up with dealing with people for the day. Stepping out of her dorm room when she did was probably the best decision she's made all week. Having to deal with Weiss was a handful to say the least. She was hoping to find a quiet place to read when she heard something, or rather, someone in the distance. She'd figured no one would be this far away from the main building on their first day, so she decided to investigate the voice.

* * *

 **I apologize for ending it on a cliffhanger, but I wanted to save the confrontation for the next chapter. I do hope I made the fighting interesting. Honestly I thought I would have my work cut out for me by making my main character have a weapon that could turn into any weapon, but instead it's just turned into what weapon should he create for each situation. It's going to be interesting to say the least. Also for anyone wondering about the character's emblems, I made them the story art. The top left is Drew's, the top right is Lucas's, the bottom left is Iris's and the bottom right is Aiden's. I apologize if the picture doesn't look good, but again I don't really have anything to digitally create them properly yet. Also if anyone knows how to add images to these chapters I would love to add concept art for their weapons and outfits. Also, I'm sorry this is a day late. I'm trying to make it a scheduled thing by trying to upload a new chapter every Sunday, but I was away this weekend so I couldn't type this up Saturday night like I usually do.**

 **Thanks.**

 **P.S. I know adding a song to the story is cliche but I couldn't resist. I love that scene in Deadpool 2 where the unplugged version of Take On Me is playing in the background and I couldn't help but put it in. Don't worry, I'll try not to make it a recurring thing, except when fighting. Fights with music are always the best.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **Coincidental Interactions**

It took Iris a few minutes of dragging Aiden around the dormitory to find team RWBY's room. Lucas followed closely behind keeping watch for anything abnormal.

"Why are you so nervous, you heard Drew. Nothing big happens on the first day of school, so nothing bad should come from us just checking out the main characters and introducing ourselves." Iris addressed the two guys as they kept trying to coerce her into returning to their dorm room.

Lucas seemed annoyed. "Yes, nothing big is supposed to happen on the first day, but if we get involved we might create a new situation that could further the plot faster than it originally does."

"Frankly I don't really care either way. I just want to go back to the room and rest since tomorrow is going to be a pretty taxing day." Aiden added softly as has neck was being slowly strangled by Iris' grip.

"We are all going to see the teams and you're both going to like it."

Before Lucas had a chance to rebuttal she knocks on the door.

"See Iris, no one's here anyway. Let's just go grab something from the cafeteria and head back to our...", before Lucas could finish his sentence the door opened, and checking to see who knocked was none other than Yang Xiao Long.

"Hi, are you looking for someone?" Yang asks wondering why the three of them were knocking on her door.

"Nope. We just thought it would be polite to introduce ourselves and get to know our classmates before lessons start tomorrow. I'm Iris. I'm sort of the outgoing big sister of our team." She tugs at Aiden's sleeve trying to get him to introduce himself, but to no avail. "This annoying data hog is Aiden."

"Come on Iris. Why do you have to be so forward all of the time."

Ignoring his comment she motions back towards Lucas "And this idiot back here is Lucas". She leans closer to Yang to try and get out of his hearing range. "You've gotta be careful around this one. He's a bit of a lady killer."

Lucas pushes past her. "Hey now. Is that really necessary. If you start spouting out false information like that about me then people are going to start to get the wrong idea. I mean, it's not like I just, go after, every girl, that I see." Lucas starts to trail off while speaking. He never lost his cool around women before, but Yang was different. He had never met anyone as stunning as her. Trying to regain his cool, he put on his charming smile and tried to act as swave as possible. "Hi. I don't believe we've met. I'm Lucas, and these two are my entourage."

"Hmph." Seeing right through his smile Yang instantly files him under her category of classmates not to take any shit from.

Shoving his face aside, Iris pushes back in front of Yang. "Anyways, we're team DLIA. I apologize that our leader Drew isn't here to introduce himself at the moment. He's had a bit on his plate recently and went to relieve himself of some of his built up stress."

From further back in the room a high pitched voice speaks up. "Yang, who's there?"

Yang turns around to address the shrill voice. "Three members of team DLIA. You know, that one team with the leader that has that weapon that you're in love with."

Rushing to the door Ruby stands beside her sister. "What!? I'm not in love with his weapon. I was simply entranced when I saw it in action during the initiation." she says innocently. Smiling to try and cover her frustration. Noticing the other three standing at the doorway she perks up. "Oh, hello. I'm Ruby Rose, and this is my sister Yang." Yang walks back into the room and Ruby steps to the side to allow the three of them in. Weiss is looking at her bottom bunk inspecting it to make sure it's safe to sleep in while Blake is in her bunk reading. Motioning towards Weiss "This is my partner, Weiss.", and motioning towards Blake "and this is Blake, Yang's partner.". Leaning in towards Iris she whispers "Don't worry about Blake. If she seems like she's ignoring you she's not. She's just really good at looking like she isn't interested in what anyone has to hear.".

Weiss stands up and proceeds to inspect the three students. "Hello, I don't believe we've met. I'm Weiss Schnee and...". Noticing Iris' fox ears her face starts to look more worried and scathing. "And I think I'll head back over her for now.".

Blake notices Weiss' change in attitude towards the three new classmates. "What, not interested now that you've noticed she's a faunus?" Blake questions.

Weiss looks over at her. "I just prefer to be cautious is all."

Fed up already with the ice queen, Blake stands up. "Alright then. I'm going outside for a while." And with that she leaves.

"What's her issue?" Weiss asks her other two teammates.

Yang puts off an air of menace. "Maybe it's your treatment towards our faunus classmates?" she states.

Weiss looks about ready to snap at Yang, but before she does all three of us get bumped from the side. Nora is pulling Ren into the room, similar to how Iris has been pulling Aiden all this time. "Hey! Aren't you that hotshot team DLIA?! The group that got their relics and got back in under five minutes! OMG! Can I fight you? I want to test my strength to see if there's a gap between us.".

Ren pipes up from behind her "Nora, stop being so forward with other people." Getting out of her deathgrip Ren bows. "I apologize for my partner's upfront nature."

"It's okay." Aiden replies, "I'm sure Lucas here would love to take you up on your offer to fight. Isn't that right Lucas?"

"Yea, sure." Lucas says still gawking at Yang.

Nora jumps up full of energy as always. "Super! Let's go right now!" She begins to drag Lucas away towards a sparring room. "Wait! What! What's happening? No! Stop! Stop! Help!" Realizing too late what he's agreed to he's dragged away from having any chance at acting cool in front of Yang.

Iris turns to Ruby. "Wanna grab something to eat while we watch my friend get pummeled?"

"Sure. Wanna come with us Yang. It'll be fun!". Agreeing, Iris drags Aiden along with the two sisters to laugh on the behalf of the pain Lucas was about to experience.

* * *

Following the music lead Blake to what looked like a meditation garden. As she got closer she began to realize that this music was foreign. Something she had never heard before. Reaching the epicenter she uncovers one of the students who passed initiation the day before.

 _I'll be gone_

 _In a day_

Finishing the song, I take a deep breathe. Letting all of that emotion out felt good, almost better than punching it out.

"What song was that? I've never heard it before."

Realizing there was someone listening I go on the defense. I transform my weapon into their gauntlet form and take a defensive stance. I turn and face whoever intruded upon my emotional state only to find the one person that I didn't want to meet yet. Blake Belladonna.

Seeing how I jumped Blake felt sorry for intruding. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that. I just heard singing and wanted to see who it was. If it helps any I thought it was good."

I relax my stance and collapse my weapon. "No, I apologize. I didn't think anyone would be out this far away from the main buildings."

"I needed some alone time to think, and dealing with a Schnee has been more than stressful. Her and Ruby fight none stop, and Ruby's sister Yang is just loud in general. Then comes along these three other students who were just trying to introduce themselves and Weiss goes on the offensive. I just had to step out for some fresh air after that."

"Wait three students. Would they happen to be a fox faunus girl and two annoying guys that she was pulling along with her?"

Blake has a slightly shocked look on her face. "You know them?"

I mentally face palm. Hopefully they didn't do anything to change the story. "Yea, I'm unfortunately their leader. Name's Drew, and I'm the leader of team DLIA. I apologize if they overstepped their boundaries, but if you get to know them they can be some of the most reliable people here."

"You trust them already?"

"Well, yea. They're my teammates. Plus I've known them for a long time, so I know I can rely on them when need be." I look over and see Blake's sad face. She looks lost and unsure of her situation. "Do you trust your team?"

"I do, mostly. I trust Yang because she's my partner, and I trust Ruby because she's my leader and also Yang's sister. But I'm still on the fence about Weiss. With her being a Schnee and all it might get bloody between us."

I decide to shake things up a bit. Maybe, if I start helping out now I can soften some of the emotion blows that come in the future. "You know, if you just tell them now that you're a faunus then I'm sure they'll understand and respect you for trying to hide it."

Blake looks at me with fear in her eyes. I instantly regret bringing up her secret.

"What do you mean tell them I'm a faunus?" she asks with the worst poker face I've ever seen.

"Come on Blake, you've gotta admit it's pretty obvious when your bow moves every time your expression changes. If it helps any I can be there when you tell them, and maybe I can even soften the blow on you by showing them I'm a half faunus."

Blake is taken back by my sudden reveal. "Wait, your a half faunus!?"

"Yep, on my mother's side. Evidently she was some sort of reptilian faunus cause the only trait I have is this small patch of scales on the back of my neck." I turn and pull my collar down to reveal the patch to her. "I have to admit though, it does make it pretty easy to blend in with normal humans, but I don't really care about what other people think to try and trick them. In the end I don't belong on either side. Faunus or human. I'm okay with what I am, I live with it, and I don't give a damn about other people's opinions on who and what I am." I turn back towards her. "You should trust your team. They'll be your closest allies for the next four years."

I can see the gears turning in her head. Processing my words and opinions.

"I'm not saying you have to tell them everything now, just keep it in mind for the future. Try and start out small, then work your way up to telling them the whole truth."

She smiles and finally looks me in the eyes. "Thanks Drew. I think I'll try that out. It might take a few months to win Weiss over though, but I'll get it done eventually."

She gets up to start walking back to her dorm. "Oh, and sorry for making you bring up your faunus heritage."

"Don't apologize. Like I said I've accepted it. And I would be more than happy to go into more detail if it were to help out another faunus in need."

"Thank you." And with that she was gone.

I slump down to the bottom of the tree we were sitting in front of. My heart was racing faster than Nora on a caffeine high. Okay maybe not that fast, but still at a fast pace. I really hope I didn't blow it with Blake. Having revealed all of that information about myself and telling her to trust her team more started to feel a bit like overkill. I begin the walk back to the dorm room, fretting over every little detail I talked about with her. Blake is one of my favorite characters, and now all I can think about is her and how awkward I probably was when I was talking with her.

"And then I hoisted him over my head and suplexed him. I was just surprised he could still walk after that." I overheard as I walked past the cafeteria. I slingshot back to try and hear a bit more and find that it's Nora eating supper with the rest of her team.

I smile and I start to leave when I pick up one last key detail, "That Lucas is pretty tough, he can take a bit of damage, but who I really want to fight is their leader." Slumping down Ren reassures her. "It's okay Nora. You'll get your chance to fight as many people as possible during sparring class."

So, Lucas got dragged into a fight with Nora, well this was some good info to have on his head.

After a detour to finally clear my thoughts, I make it back to the dorm room. Feeling the safety of privacy I open the door and waltz in only to be greeted by the three stooges.

"So where have you been? You've been gone for a few hours now." asks Iris as she steps up, arms crossed ready to argue over any excuses I were to make. I think about my response, but then a better one pops into my head. "You know, I could ask you the same thing. I overheard that you three went around and introduced yourselves to team RWBY." I look over to Lucas, "And that Lucas got a beat down from Nora."

"Hey, for the record I could have beaten her if I had my weapon on me."

Iris zooms over to him and squeezes his lips. "Zip it you. If it wasn't for you I would be on good terms with most of team RWBY. But then you just had to fall head over heals for Yang, and now she thinks our whole team is a bunch of weirdos."

"Wait, you have a thing for Yang now? What's that a new record?"

Lucas looks at me, eyes piercing me full of malice. "Can we change the subject back to you. Where have you been. You said you were going to go train for a bit, but when we went looking for you in the training rooms you were no where to be found. What gives?"

I begin to feel a bit sheepish. I take a seat on my bed and bite my lip.

Iris picks up on my body language. "What did you do?"

I take a deep breathe and tell them mostly everything. "Well, I might have accidentally snapped at Ozpin when he found me training. And I might have also revealed that I know about Salem. But on the bright side I managed to become friends with Blake."

Aiden looks up from tinkering with his glasses. "You told what to Ozpin?".

"Look, I didn't say much. Just that I didn't trust him and that I wasn't afraid of him or Salem. As long as we play it cool and stay away from him then we should be good."

"Don't you have your first leadership class with him tomorrow?" Lucas asks as he jumps in bed.

"Oh shit."

That night was a long night. The whole time I was spent tossing and turning, worrying about every possible outcome that I could have, and quiet possible did change just living through one day.

The next morning was an uneventful walk to our first class, Grimm studies. We manage to get there around 8:50 due to my need to be early for everything, so we got to see teams RWBY and JNPR fall through the door as they just get there before the bell rang. The first few classes I was looking forward to. Grimm studies, history, and sparring. It's the last class, leadership class, that I already knew was going to be a mine field. Ozpin was a very observant man, and it would take a lot to get one over on him.

* * *

 **Thank you for sticking with this fanfic. I know I'm trash at writing dialog, so next chapter is going to be a lot better. I tried to setup some relationships between the OC characters and the original characters for the future, maybe created some drama. Also the plan they've come up with is to pretty much to win over this world by knowing the future, but that's not to say that due to their personalities they might fuck some things up and reveal too much too soon. Also I like to think the tone that the OC characters think in their head is Code Geass, when in reality they're more similar to Sword Art Online Abridged.**

 **Thanks.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **Fight Club Part 1**

"Well that was fun." I exclaim as our small group exited the classroom. Hearing Ryan's voice coming from Professor Port was unexpectedly jarring. I can only imagine how weird history class with Professor Oobleck is going to be. As we're walking to our next class Iris leans in closer to me.

"So does Weiss mellow out at all in the future, cause her ego was through the roof all during class. And that argument Ruby and her had just now doesn't exactly look like two main characters who are meant to be close partners."

"They just need some time to think, and a lecture from their teachers. The plot progresses pretty fast in the early seasons."Accepting my reassurance Iris resumes her posture. I can tell that she seems a tad bit uneasy about the way everyone is acting so far. Maybe I should try to speed up some of the relationships a bit so they have more time to evolve before the fall? I almost get lost in my own thoughts when I feel a nudge from my right.

"Hey, so this might be a weird question, but do you see the shadow people too?" Lucas looks like he's about to jump out of his own skin. I look around and realize what he's talking about. Walking with us to our next class were several teams, but besides our team, JNPR, CRDL, Blake, Yang and Velvet everyone one else was a shadow person.

"Don't worry, they should be gone and replaced by actual people soon. I hope."

* * *

Needless to say, even with Joel, aka Oobleck, teaching us all about the past of Remnant, history was boring as all hell. Everyone was fuming over how horrible the pacing of the class was.

"Did you even write down any notes? I started getting writer's cramp and had to stop half way through." Lucas exclaimed.

"Nope, not a single word. I did however draw this portrait of your face while your trying to keep yourself awake. It's quiet impressive if I might say so myself." Iris taunted Lucas.

I was baffled at how much information I missed during the whole class. "If I had a laptop I could possibly keep up with his rambling with my typing speed, but with a simple pencil and paper I can't write shit."

"I got everything down."

We all turn towards Aiden. "What, our scrolls have holo keyboards to type with. You can all copy my notes later tonight if you want to."

Sighing we all thank him for saving our asses.

"Now that those two classes are out of the way, time for our most anticipated class of the day" I was so excited for sparring class with Professor Goodwitch that I was nearly ready to start running for the classroom.

Iris looks at me with a discerning look. "You mean your most anticipated class of the day. We haven't even technically used our weapons yet outside of our dorm room."

"You'll have muscle memory from when your body used them in the past. You should be good just so long as you don't get paired against any of the elite fighters in our year." I really hope I'm right in my assumption, because if I'm not then I know I'm going to get a punch to the face from all three of them once we're back behind closed doors.

Finally reaching the room we each take our seats. I take a deep breathe to try and quell the excitement building in my chest. Once everyone arrived Glynda started.

"Good evening students. My name is Professor Goodwitch, and I will be your instructor for these training sessions. For this first class I will randomly pair you up with another individual in the room. Each one will have a chance to come on stage and fight. Depending on your performance and fighting styles you will be grouped into different categories of who to spar and train with to better hone your skills as a huntsman or huntress." Displaying our aura bars on the screen behind her she continues. "Each match will be decided when either fighter's aura is depleted into the red, or if there is a ring out. Now then the pairs will be as followed." The screen behind her changes to display who will be fighting whom.

Ruby Rose vs. Jaune Arc

Drew Azzurum vs. Yang Xiao Long

Lucas Platina vs. Nora Valkyrie

Weiss Schnee vs. Russel Thrush

Iris Korzac vs. Blake Belladonna

Aiden Patriarch vs. Lie Ren

Pyrrha Nikos vs. Cardin Winchester

All of the other pairings faded as I focused on mine. Yang Xiao Long. This would indeed be interesting. Of course it would have been more exciting if I was matched up against Ruby or Pyrrha, but I suppose she will do.

Obviously the first match was over before it even began. Jaune's aura was in the red within the first ten seconds. As I walked to the stage Pyrrha had Jaune slung over her shoulders. "It's okay Jaune, you'll get her next time." Chuckling quietly to myself I reach the stage coming face to face with the dragon herself.

Looking her over I notice she's in a more aggressive stance than she usually is. I'm guessing she's hoping to end this quick so I don't get the better of her.

"Good luck"

"Likewise" she replied coldly.

I can feel every fiber of my being tense up, like my whole body is shouting at me to throw my everything into this. I clear my mind and wipe my face of any emotion. I can see that this unnerved Yang a bit.

"BEGIN!"

We launch at each other like two missiles aiming to impact the other. She goes for a heavy weighted right swing, while I move to counter. I transform my gauntlets into their piston form and our fists collide. The shear impact from hitting each other created a shock wave around us. Upon impact Yang shot her gauntlet giving her punch even more of a wallop. I dig my feet in and push my weight into my left fist using the piston to add more to my attack. She tries to hit me from my right but instead I counter that blow instead. She keeps punching relentlessly, each hit growing more and more powerful. I counter each one with a punch of my own. In my head I'm imagining we looked like All Might fighting the first Nomu while in reality I'm sure it looked much less impressive.

With my last punch I manage to push us both back to either side of the stage. I can't believe I managed to match every punch she threw at me. Feeling more confident in my fighting abilities I start to formulate a strategy that might work against her. On the other side of the stage I spot her preparing to launch at me again, so I had to end this quickly.

I disassemble the pistons and create another war hammer similar in design to Magnahild. Yang takes flight as I start gaining momentum in my swings. She hits me with a flurry of attacks. I try to counter most of them but a few manage to breach through my defenses. Whenever I didn't manage to hit her with the hammer I simply twirled it around to let it gain even more speed and swung it harder. After a brief dance between the two of us I manage to wing her in her side, sending her tumbling back and causing her aura to go into the yellow.

Twirling the hammer around the back of my head I let it rest on my shoulders. I try to mimic Ruby's pose whenever she has Crescent Rose over her shoulders, trying to taunt Yang into close combat again. I keep pressure on the end of the hammer, waiting for her to strike.

Seeing that I have the upper hand she activates her semblance, and like a roaring meteor she rains down upon me.

"Pretty cheap to fight when your weapon can do anything." I could tell she was trying to throw me off by getting under my skin. She shoots to my left and rushes me. I spin my war hammer, but she manages to dodge it. Getting too close for comfort I quickly spin it around and shorten the weapon into my right hand. Expecting to be too close to get hit, I catch Yang off guard and bash her head. She goes flying to the side. I dismantle the hammer, readying myself for what was inevitably going to be our last confrontation.

I motion at my gauntlets. "This isn't my weapon."

I rush her while she's still processing what I meant. I transfer all of my bots into my right fist, creating a massive impact piston. Yang throws her arms up to try and block it, but it hits twice. Wincing, her aura gets knocked into the red.

"Miss Xiao Long's aura is in the red. By tournament standards Mr. Azzurum is the winner of this fight."

I walk over and help Yang to her feet. She seems hesitant at first, but accepts my hand. Walking back to our seats she asks, "What do you mean, that isn't your weapon. Seems pretty powerful for something that isn't meant to be a tool of war."

Sighing I explain to her what I meant. "I meant it as this isn't my main weapon. My imagination is. Without it my bots would be useless, and my face would be a mold for your fists. That being said though, I mostly just said it to try and throw you off a bit."

Accepting my explanation Yang sits down with the rest of her team. I on the other hand had to deal with the onslaught of questions my fight brought about from my teammates.

"Dude, that was fucking awesome! Since when could you fight like that!?" Lucas seemed baffled that I not only held my own against the strongest brawler in the school, but managed to beat her at her own game.

"I dabbled a bit back in our old lives. Even if it is self taught, punching something is always a good stress reliever."

"But you seem almost too powerful. Almost as if you're the main character among us four." Iris began to wonder.

"Look, I'm sure you three are just as strong as I am. Speaking of which I believe you're up next Lucas."

"Welp, better wish me luck them."

I scooch over towards Aiden. "I'll pay you 20 lien if you record this match for me."

"Already rolling. I figured I could record all of the matches so we could find any weaknesses to fix in our fighting styles, or exploit in any of our classmates if need be in the future."

"You know, sometimes I think you're the only one in this group who gets me Aiden.". I lean back in my chair and pretend like I'm eating popcorn as the moment I've been waiting for finally arrives.

* * *

" _You know you're most definitely going to lose, right?"_ Lucas kept thinking to himself as he walked on stage. He'd only fought a few people before, and those fights were nothing compared to the combat he'd have to fight through in this world. Readying his weapons he eyes up his competition.

"So, ready for more of what I gave you last time?" Nora taunted.

"Well, you see ginger, this time I have my weapons. So this is going to end a lot differently than how yesterday's beat down went." Lucas said sheepishly. He'd tried to wrangle together what little courage he had left, but seeing Drew's last fight didn't really help him in the slightest.

"BEGIN!"

Nora shot a few grenades before transforming the launcher into her prized war hammer. Lucas managed to just barely dodge the blasts before having to deflect the hammer coming straight for his face. Flipping backwards he tried to grab the hammer with his left sickle to try and pull it out of her grip, but to no avail. Nora's grip was iron. Instead she manages to pull him off balance, sending him tumbling through the air.

"God dammit. Why did I have to pull the short end of the stick when it came to cool weapons?"

Hitting the ground hard, Lucas straightened himself out and stabbed the floor with his sickles to slow himself down. He used his stuck weapons to fling himself at the battle fueled beast, trying to at least be faster than her to try and get a few hits in. Using his left sickle to block the hammer, he spun the right one using the chain to get some range on her. Lashing out at certain intervals so that the chain wouldn't get tangled around the hammer, Lucas finally felt like he had the upper hand. That is until Nora stopped pulling her punches.

Feeling like she'd let this drag on for too long, Nora decided to end this battle of theirs. Hitting the ground with Magnahild and pulling the trigger, she goes flying over Lucas' head. Not realizing what had happened until it was already to late, Lucas spun around only to be met with the blunt end of Nora's hammer. Knocking him down with a direct hit, Lucas' aura turned red.

"That's the match! Nora Valkyrie is the victor!" exclaimed Glynda.

Taking a mental note to help Lucas with his training after this, I walked down and helped him back up to our team's seats.

"Drew, I swear if you make fun of this situation then I will make you pay for it in the future."

"You're really going to threaten the person holding you up right now. I will drop you."

"Point taken."

I manage to drag him back up and start to go over a few things with him while the next fight occurs. It's pretty obvious that Weiss is going to win so I don't really pay too much attention to it.

"We definitely have to work on your weapon usage. You have to act like your weapon is an extension of your body. Move them like you would a limb. Also, you didn't use your semblance at all. I counted at least five instances where you could have had the upper hand if you'd just used it a bit to unbalance her."

Having voiced my opinions to him, Lucas took note and thought of a few ways to improve his training.

"Russel, your aura has been put into the red. The win goes to Miss Weiss Schnee." Glynda announces.

"I guess that means I'm up." Iris declares as she grabs her sheaths and walks down towards the stage.

I lean back again as I think to myself, now this could get interesting.

* * *

 **Sup? Sorry for ending it there. I felt if I put too much fighting in one chapter then it would make the other fights less exciting. Next week should be the conclusion to the sparring class, supper with all of the teams together and then leader class with Ozpin. Now, to address the last chapter. I did go back and fix it a few days ago, but in case anyone didn't reread it I did fix it so that it says that Yang files Lucas under her list of classmates to NOT take any shit from. Sorry about that mistake. I try to write these Saturday nights and then do a quick error check Sunday morning before uploading them.**

 **So as always, thanks.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **Fight Club Part 2**

Iris could feel the intensity in the air as she walked down towards the stage. _What if I freeze up?_ As I continue to walk the blades in their sheaths seem to feel heavier at my waist. _What if I make a fool out of myself?_ Going over every style Aiden taught me last night, I hope beyond reasoning that the muscle memory of using my blades comes back to me in my moment of need. _You aren't cut out for this._

My hands start to clam up as I step on stage. Feeling the pressure start to build I try and put on a smile to cover how nervous I'm feeling. I peek up towards the seats and see the guys watching me, judging me. I take a deep breathe and assess my opponent. The ninja faunus looks to be sizing me up as I stand before her. Her hand on her sword. Bow twitching. Brain racking itself, probably trying to formulate some sort of strategy to combat my weapons. I grip the hilts of both swords and ready myself for what's to come.

"BEGIN!"

Blake dashes towards me at full tilt, drawing her sword and gripping her cleaver sheath in one flawless motion. I draw both of my swords into a cross to block her first swipe at me, but she hits me with her cleaver from the side. I take the blow and try to spin around to hit her with both of my swords. _You don't stand a chance._ I jump and twist in the air, bringing the full weight of my swing down on her. Both swords hitting her sheath in unison. I try to jump back to gain some distance but she wraps her ribbon around my ankle, dragging me down. I hit the floor hard.

 _Why are you even trying?_

Why am I trying? This match doesn't really mean anything. I'm just wasting energy. If I'm going to lose I should just get it over with.

"Come on Iris! You can do it!"

I look up to the seats and see Lucas standing there, leaning forward with anticipation. "Don't give up!" he shouts. I can almost make out what looks to be worry forming on Aiden's face beside him. My leader, Drew, was reclined back in his seat watching the show like some action set piece. Nothing but a smirk on his face, but I can almost make out something he's mouthing.

WHAM!

I get slammed in the back by Blake's cleaver. Rolling across the floor I manage to just barely stop and hold myself up with my blades. I glance up towards my team and finally make out what Drew is trying to mouth to me.

 _Just believe in yourself._

With all of my strength, I pull myself off of my swords and stare straight at Blake. "Now it's on."

Gritting my teeth I dash towards the ninja. I try to slide into a cross swipe, but she creates a clone to dodge out of the way. Pulling myself up I block a strike from behind. Feeling this newfound strength my swords start to become easier to handle, so I'm thinking it's ready for the next level. I dash at her again, this time I can see the confusion forming on her brow. Probably wondering why I would try the same tactic a second time knowing how the first one went. I use my semblance to see her two seconds from now, and she makes a shadow clone to try and get behind me again, grappling me with her ribbon and cutting me down for the win. Perfect.

I let her create the clone, but instead of attacking it I side step around it so it's between the two of us. Slamming the hilts of my blades together I pull back on the twine emerging from the back of the blades, and pulling a blunt arrow out of my quiver I line up the shot. Pulling the string back as far as possible I let loose the arrow and watch it soar. It cuts through the clone like paper and punches Blake right in the gut.

Staggering back I see that it's knocked the wind out of her. A blow like that, even through aura had to hurt like hell. I take a peek up at the screen and see that we're both in the yellow now. Mine a bit further down than hers. Regaining her breath Blake notices the determination brewing in my eyes. The pair make a silent agreement of respect between each other before rushing forward. Seeing her ahead in time I block the katana from my right and dodge the cleaver from my left. We carve into each other like some formal dance.

Managing to gain the upper hand, Blake uses fire dust and creates an explosive clone ready to take me out. Respecting how far she's come in this fight she finishes her final attack and completes the fight, or so she thought. Knowing about the fire clone in advanced I prepared my counter attack. Seeing the clone forming I only had a few moments before it blew up in my face, so I had to time this perfectly. Breaking apart my swords I slice into the shoulders of the clone and use them to flip over it, and with the explosion following it I propelled through the air directly above Blake. Moving the blades once more into bow form I grab two heavy arrows and one explosive. Hitting the feline from above with the two heavy arrows Blake stumbles backwards, aura just barely in the yellow. Noticing what I had done, Blake realized her mistake all to late. The final arrow sealed her fate. The explosion knocked Blake across the stage and sent her aura plummeting into the red.

"Blake's aura has been sent into the red! Iris Korzac is the victor!"

* * *

Looking down from my seat, I felt proud that Iris could hold her own against the feline ninja. My team needed training, but with the right stuff they could be elites before the fall. I watch as Iris goes to help Blake up. I see her bow, probably apologizing for tricking her and thinking she went too far. Walking back up to us I can see her face turn menacing. "Don't any of you start with me! I already have a lot going through my head right now, so I don't need any of your shit."

"You were awesome!" Lucas jumps at her. "What do you mean give you shit, that was way better than my fight! How did you even do half of that?!"

Iris looked stunned. I guess nobody had ever really praised her before.

"It was a good fight. I will admit I didn't think you would pull through until you shot through the clone." Aiden perked up.

Iris suffocated him in a hug. "Please release me."

"Not until you tell me who replaced you with a nicer person!"

"I knew you would win from the start. The determination I saw in your eyes was unmistakable, I wouldn't have changed a thing. But with practice you would have ended it faster." I get up and pry her off of Aiden. "Now then, Aiden. I believe it's your turn in the spot light."

"If it was any other occasion I would forfeit the match, but I am intrigued with Lie Ren's style of combat. Just make sure to gather as much data as possible while I'm down there."

"Of course."

Making his way down towards the stage, I couldn't sense any form of change in his demeanor. He strode right up onto the stage and waited to confront his opponent.

"BEGIN!"

While watching the last fight between Iris and Blake, I hadn't realized that Aiden had changed the location of his gun. Dropping it out of his right sleeve he immediately unfolded it and started to pepper Ren with gun fire. Using the magnum bullets loaded in, each shot was a heavy hitter.

Quickly transforming his gun into light assault rifle mode, Aiden dashed towards Ren. Using his extended mag now the bullets weren't as strong, but there was a lot of them being washed over his enemy. Ren used Aiden's advancement to his advantage. Returning with a volley of bullets himself he dashed towards him, dodging the hellfire Aiden was raining on him.

Ren got in close and tried to swipe at him with his blades, but Aiden managed to block them with the barrel of his gun. Jumping back Aiden then transforms it into his short range shotgun. Ren tries to get close again but ends up facing down the barrel of his gun. Ren gets hit, but runs back again. Aiden continues to open fire upon Ren, but still manages to get hit. By the end of this fire fight both of them are in the yellow.

Ren makes one final stand. He jumps back to the far end of the stage and dashes towards Aiden to gain as much speed as possible. Meanwhile Aiden transforms his gun into it's final form, the sniper.

On opposite sides, each fighter makes their final move. Aiden lines up the shot to take Ren out, while Ren builds up speed heading to cut him down. Aiden waits for the last possible moment, when Ren is practically staring down the barrel of his rifle to fire. At that last moment Ren spots Aiden's finger twitch and side steps to the right. Ren dances around Aidens left as the shot rings out over the crowd. From behind, Ren slices Aiden across his back with both blades sending Aiden's aura into the red.

"Aiden's aura has been reduced to the red. Lie Ren is the victor."

"What the hell was that! Was Aiden even trying!?" Lucas wondered out loud as the two fighters walked back to their seats.

"Makes me feel kind of stupid for even trying with my fight." Iris stated.

Aiden waltz back up to his seat, his two teammates both staring disrespectfully at him. "I believe what I learned was sufficient enough to combat his skill in the future." Looking around at the pair. "Why are you two staring at me like that?"

"You lost on purpose you idiot! That's why we're mad at you!" Iris berates him.

I stand up and place a hand on Aiden's shoulder. "You did a good job out there. Thank you."

"I thought it would be best to not show off too much on our first day. Possibly throw some of the other students off. Yes I could have easily dispatched Ren by using just a combination between my pistol and shotgun forms, but instead I decided to see how he would react to each variant."

Realizing what he had done, Iris and Lucas realized their mistake. "Oh. Well, okay then." Iris stammered.

With the quick conclusion of the last fight with Pyrrha reigning victorious we all got excused to go to supper. On the way out of the door I fell back behind the others with Blake. Yang managed to peeked back and saw what I was doing. With a slight smirk she resumed her chat with Pyrrha and Ruby about their fights.

"I apologize if my teammate was a bit too harsh on you. I promise it wasn't anything personal."

"It's okay. Everyone's trying their hardest to be at the top, and your team seams to be up there in terms of skill. Personally I still have a lot to learn when it comes to strategizing."

I turn around and start walking backwards while talking with her. "Want some pointers? I'm free most days after classes, I think. We could help each other train." I say with hope that she will accept.

She smiles softly. "I think I'll take you up on that offer, just so long as it doesn't distract you from any leader duties."

"A few nights won't hurt anything."

* * *

We get to the cafeteria and all three of our teams take over a table to eat at. I see that Pyrrha is sitting close to Juane. Maybe I should play cupid for them and try to get them together before the dance? For some reason Ruby keeps pestering me about my weapon and how it works. Lucas tries to have a conversation with Yang, but keeps failing ultimately. And Nora and Iris are arguing over which of their leaders is the strongest. I start to think to myself as I finish my food, this is how it should be. If I stop the fall and save everything from failing, then we could have this until we all graduate. But I wipe that thought out of my head. Even if we stop the fall then Salem will just try a new method. Except the next time I won't know what will happen. It'll be safer to just let it happen and deal with the consequences.

I finish my food and head off towards our dorm for the comfort of sleep, that is until Ruby grabs my shoulder from behind. "Aren't you coming to leader class with us?"

"Shit." I say under my breath. I grit my teeth into a smile and turn towards her and Jaune. "Of course. How could I forget our most important class of the day." I start to walk with Ruby and Jaune towards the classroom.

Iris walks past with the rest of our small group towards the dorm rooms. "Good luck hotshot, you're gonna need it." Lucas walks with her and adds his own little jab at me. "You'd better not dig us a bigger grave now. You hear!"

As we walk off Jaune asks "What was that all about? Did you not want to go to leader class?"

"No, it's just. Well, let's just say I'm not really on good terms with Ozpin at the moment."

"What could you have done before the first day of classes that could have angered him enough to not want to go to class?" Ruby asks.

"I wouldn't say I angered him. It's just, complicated."

We arrive at the classroom, and luckily we got there before the headmaster did. We take our seats next to each other and wait. I look over and see Cardin looking a bit uneasy. Now that I think about it, Sky and Dove weren't in combat training. Wonder if that has anything to do with his mood?

Just as I'm beginning to wonder when the class is going to start, he walks in. Ozpin.

"Hello class. You're all already acquainted with who I am, so I'll get straight to the point. You are all the future leaders of your generation of huntsmen and huntresses. You have a duty to guide, watch over and protect those in your charge. Now, you're all probably wondering one thing. Why me? Well I want all of you to know that I chose each and every one of you for very specific reasons." Walking down the rows, he starts at our end. "Miss. Rose. I chose you as leader of team RWBY due to your tenacity, innocence and ability to lead those down the right path." Moving on he stands in front of Jaune. "Mr. Arc. I chose you as leader of team JNPR due to your strategist nature. I sense a great leader in you." Managing to get a small smile out of Jaune he moves on to myself. As he stops in front of me I see intrigue on his face. "And you, Mr. Azzurum. I chose you for your quick thinking and intellect. You've lead your team for a lot longer than I've known of you, and so I trust you to keep leading them down the correct path." Moving on he describes the following leaders. I take a moment to dissect what he meant. Was he hoping I wouldn't drag my team into his war with Salem?

"And finally, Mr. Winchester. I chose you for your brute strength when dealt with an impossible situation." Seeing this as a compliment Cardin smiles smugly. Returning to the front of the class, Ozpin leans back against the desk and addresses everyone. "These are the reasons I chose each of you. Now then I must also add that each of you is not without flaws." Turning around he starts to write something on the board, he barely managed to start when Glynda interrupts him, peeking in from the door. "Professor, a word if I may?" she asks with confidence.

"Of course Glynda.". He turns to face the class before stepping out. "Class, since this first lesson is a short one, why don't you all think of what some of your weaknesses are, as well as your teammates weaknesses. When I come back in I would like to hear what you've all come up with." As he leaves I start to brainstorm. Coming up with them was easy, it was narrowing the important ones down that was the challenge.

Five minutes later Ozpin returns. "I apologize for that little interruption. Now who would like to go first?". Eyes darting over in my direction I got the sudden feeling I was about to be asked to go first. "Mr. Azzurum, how about yourself?" Yep, should've called it. "Of course sir." I stand up and head to the front. Maybe I could possibly take his attention away from myself and my little threat from yesterday? Welp, I was just going to have to try.

* * *

 **I am so sorry for the wait. Most of the blame can be focused on Sea of Thieves and how addictive of a grind it can be. I've already started on Chapter 7, so if it's not up by this Sunday then it will be up by the next.**

 **Again, thank you all for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **Confrontation**

I walk up to the front and produce the names of team DLIA on the board. I take a deep breath, relax my shoulders, and begin. "To keep it simple I'll start with my partner Lucas and end with myself." I write under his name Brash, Pride and Integrity. "Lucas tends to be full of himself sometimes. He believes that he is infallible when it comes to communicating with others. A people person. He likes to be in control of the situation. Lastly he values his Pride and Integrity over doing the right thing and having the possibility of ruining his image." Going on under Iris I write Self Esteem, Confidence and Recognition. "Iris hides her low self esteem very well. She also as little to no confidence in her own abilities and wants recognition. I'm guessing this has something to do with her past, but I never felt it was my place to ask." Moving on I write Overthinks, Sacrificial and Possible Sociopath under Aiden. "Aiden is a bit trickier when it comes to analyzing. Sometimes I can barely get a read on the guy, but what I have seen has told me a few things about himself. He tends to overthink situations a lot. Like, I mean a lot. Sometimes he will sacrifice anything to get even the smallest amount of information on something or someone. And lastly he doesn't really exactly like being around people. He can stand to be around me and the other two, but that was after a few years of being forced to be with us. So he's not really open for new human interactions." Then for the final touch I write what my own weaknesses are. Forming the last letter I could swear I saw a tad bit of shock on Ozpin's face. "Lastly, for my own weaknesses, I take one from each of my teammates. Pride, Confidence, and Sacrificial. I will admit, sometimes I get full of myself. Sometimes I won't take others opinions into account, which I'm trying to remedy. I see that sometimes I may be overconfident in myself. And, when push comes to shove, I may be all too eager to throw myself in the way of harm to save others. Lastly I am stubborn. There is little that will stop me from reaching my goals, and even if it kills me I will see my plans through to fruition."

I wait in silence as I'm judge by those all knowing eyes of his. "Well said Drew. Hopefully by knowing all of your weaknesses you will be able to help mend and remedy those for the future." I sigh to myself. Thank Oum that was enough to satisfy him. "Of course professor, that is the plan." Taking his comment as the okay to wrap up, I erase what I've written and take my seat.

"Mr. Arc. Would you like to follow him?" I look beside me to Jaune. He seems to be a bit nervous. Probably since he hasn't know his teammates for more than a few days. Standing up though he moves to the front. "From what I've witnessed, my team only has a few weaknesses. For starters Nora can be a bit overzealous, so it's hard to pinpoint her at certain times. Ren tries to be the calm, cool and collective one, but I feel like that's just a cover. And Pyrrha while infallible combat wise tends to be overprotective. Compared to the three of them though I am full of weaknesses. I'm not as strong as those three, I don't have a semblance, my weapon isn't as good compared to theirs and the list goes on and on." Feeling he said his peace Jaune moved to sit back down. "You shouldn't doubt yourself too much Mr. Arc. There are plenty of things that make you strong." Ozpin mentioned to try and reassure him.

Moving on Ozpin motioned for Ruby to go next. She energetically skips to the front and turns to face us. "I'll just make this as quick as possible. I have a short temper and lack experience. Weiss has the shadow of her family looking over her. Blake tends to run a lot and my sister has a very short fuse."

"Short and to the point. Hopefully if these came to you that quickly then perhaps the solution to helping these weakness will come just as fast. Smirking she glides back into her seat. I didn't really pay attention to the other leaders as they listed off all of their weaknesses. Cardin's was easily guessable.

Taking command again Ozpin tries to wrap up his class. "Alright class, unfortunately that is all the time we have for today's class. The rest of them won't be as short as this little introduction into leadership, so be prepared. Now for your assignment. I want you all to report back to me the strengths of your team. Thank you, and have a nice end to your first day." He turns and sits behind the front desk, jotting something down onto his scroll. I go to leave with Ruby and Jaune when he pipes up. "Actually, Mr. Azzurum. If you don't mind staying after I would like to have a word with you." Ruby and Jaune both turn to me, as if asking if I did anything wrong to deserve this. I just shrug and motion for them to go ahead. We wait another minute for the last student to file out before he motions for me to come closer to the desk. "Mr. Azzurum, do you know why I asked you to stay behind?"

I gulped. This was it. I blew our cover. Come on, think Drew. There's got to be some way to lie myself out of this situation. Wait. Maybe if I, okay that might work if he doesn't see right through me. There's only one way to find out. "No I do not sir. Was it something I said about my teammates?"

"No it is not. It's about what you said yesterday in the holochamber." Yep, this is it. Time to be as chill as possible. "What about it?"

"You can't just waltz into a room and use your semblance care free. Much less use it to break into a very expensive holo training center and use it to your heart's content. I hope to see better from you in the future in regards to restraining your personal use of your power for inappropriate usage."

Better to just bite the bullet and apologize. "Of course sir. I apologize. I simply didn't feel like a punching bag was enough to get rid of some pent up anxiety I was feeling. I will make sure to restrain myself in the future." I hope that was all he wanted to talk to me about. I didn't feel safe being with him here for too long.

"Thank you Drew. Now onto the second point I wanted to talk to you about before I let you go." Well shit, here it is. Hiding my nervousness I respond. "Of course sir, anything."

"How do you know her name?" I looked into his eyes and they looked like a darkness had overtaken them. He was serious now, no games. "What name sir?" I attempt to play the idiot, but of course I know it won't get me anywhere. "Don't play stupid with me. Salem. You at least know of her, so I must ask you. How did you come upon her name, and how much more do you know?" I see him shift a little in his seat. Is he preparing to attack? Now that I think about it I'm pretty sure I saw Glynda and a few more teachers waiting outside the door as the rest of the class left. Does he think I'm going to try and kill him? Well, he's not wrong, but I definitely wouldn't try this early in the story.

"I apologize sir. My father used to read to me fables before he died during the attack on our home village. In one of them there was a queen of Grimm. At the end of the fable they named her Salem. That story always used to scare me the most, so I always kept it in the back of my mind. I had always believed it to be false. Had to in order to sleep some nights. That is until he appeared. One day when me and my team were traveling between villages, a messenger found us. The message he gave us was signed with only a blood red S, but I knew it was her. She tried to recruit us." At this, Ozpin peaked up. "What became of the messenger?"

"Well, the last we saw of him both of his legs were broken and he was trying ever so desperately to crawl away from a nest of Death Stalkers."

"You didn't think to turn him into the authorities? Or mention this to me back when I sought you out to join Beacon Academy?" I quickly come up with an excuse. "We broke his legs while defending ourselves, as for the nest of Death Stalkers. Well that was just bad luck on our part. As for mentioning it to you, well we didn't really know who to trust after that." Please buy into it. I just have to remember to tell the team my story in case he questions any of them on it later.

Letting out a sigh, Ozpin backs down in defeat. "Alright then. If that is indeed everything, then you may leave. Have a good night." I let out an internal sigh after successfully getting one past him. "You too professor." I let a small smirk creep over my face as I walk out the door of the classroom. I thought it over quickly and realized that Glynda probably couldn't dig up anything on me so he tried intimidating me directly to get some info out of me. Unfortunately for him, lying is basically second nature to me. On my way out I catch Glynda, Port and Peach out of the corner of my eye. I'm guessing they were backup in case I turned out to be working with Salem. As I walked down the hallway towards my dorm I see Glynda shoo off the other two professors and walk into the classroom, probably wanting to here any info he managed to ring out of me.

* * *

"So Ozpin, manage to get anything out of the boy?" Glynda asked as she sauntered into the classroom. She'd hoped he'd at least got something out of him after keeping him in that room for the last ten minutes. "Unfortunately not. He did however come up with quite the impressive story though. He reminds me of Raven a bit back when she was a student."

"You don't believe him? From what I researched, him and his team were renowned throughout their home region. I know that's why you sought them out to bring them to Beacon, so why the sudden change?"

"Salem doesn't just sniff out new servants. I know the recruitment process better than most others. I've got a bad feeling about that team."

"Well, hopefully once you have your night time hot chocolate, that bad feeling will go away." Glynda huffs out the door. From what she saw during combat training, that team was going to become the aces of Beacon.

* * *

I managed to make my way back to the dorms just before dusk settled. I could see the setting sun from one of the hallways back. The place felt cozy and home like. I open the door only to get an earful of complaints.

"Where the hell have you been?" Iris berates me. "Jaune and Ruby got back about fifteen to twenty minutes ago, and here you are trying to sneak back into the room like a wounded dog. What gives?" I stare at her and look behind to see Lucas and Aiden hiding on their beds. Aiden looks disinterested as usual, but Lucas looks hurt. Maybe Iris did something to him? "Look, it's better if I talk inside." I push past her and take a seat on my bed.

Sighing I decide to just tell them straight up. Knowing that they'll probably throw a fit, I sigh. "You want to know what happened? Ozpin held me back and questioned me about how I knew about Salem. I managed to get out of it, but now you all have to here the story I came up with in case he questions any of you about it." Iris scuffed. Face palming she seemed disappointed in me. "Why do you always have to tiptoe around danger like this. Whenever we used to play video games you would always risk our team over some mistake or decision. Why do you have to be like this now of all times?"

I look at her as if to say are you finished yet? Yes I could sometimes ride the line of danger and safety, but who could blame me? What's the fun of living or playing a video game if you don't take chances? "Look, do you want me to tell you what I came up with, or would you rather be in the dark if Ozpin ever holds any of you back for questioning as well?" Sighing they all except their fates. I manage to retell my story and Ozpin's questions rather quickly. "So that's it then, no more surprises and sudden outbursts that might jeopardize our safety?" Iris asks after I finished.

"I'll be good, I promise. I won't lose sight of our end goal again." Finally relaxing a bit I could tell the others were starting to get a bit tired after having dealt with my situation. "So, can I go to sleep now?"

"Sure. It's been a long day for all of us. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little less hectic." Lucas exclaims as he curls up in his cot.

I step into the bathroom and get ready for bed. Curling up I only thought of one thing as I drifted off. I miss my old bed.

The next morning was anything but peaceful. "Wake your asses up!" I just begin to open my eyes as I watch Iris shoving Aiden out of his bed. I get dressed and head out the door with my team. Classes are still the same. Luckily we had sparring class after lunch today, so I had to remember to eat light. Rushing through the day, I sit down where I sat yesterday and wait for Glynda to announce what we would be doing.

"Good evening class. Today we will be having the last of your sparring sessions to determine how and who will help with your future training. I will display the pairs now, and we will begin in five minutes." I look up and gulp. This one might be a challenge.

Yang Xiao Long vs. Lucas Platina

Nora Valkyrie vs. Cardin Winchester

Lie Ren vs. Sky Lark

Aiden Patriarch vs. Jaune Arc

Ruby Rose vs. Dove Bronzewing

Blake Belladonna vs. Russel Thrush

Drew Azzurum vs. Pyrrha Nikos

Weiss Schnee vs. Iris Korzac

"Will the first two fighters, please make their way to the stage."

"Good luck!" Iris shouts at Lucas as he starts his walk down. I give him a slight nod to motion for him to try his best.

Walking down to the stage, he felt like he was suffocating. How was he going to beat her? He didn't want to do anything that might hurt her outlook on him. Stepping up to face Yang, he felt his heart skip a beat. "I'm fucked."

* * *

 **Thank you for waiting for this update. I think this is how I will be updating from now on. At least every other weekend due to having to deal with family on the opposite weekends. Although the coming weekends are going to get complicated what with Avengers Endgame coming up and the Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update coming out right after. I'll try to do most of the writing at work, so I can upload this on time.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **Crisis Averted**

I could feel my stomach lurching as I recalled her first fight against my leader. The explosiveness of her temper, and her semblance was something I had to watch out for. This wasn't going to be easy, but I at least have some training under my belt now thanks to Aiden. After Drew was forced into leader class Aiden pulled me and Iris into a training room to teach us a few things. One of the things I learned was that I was the weakest link. The one that needed the most teaching. Hopefully from the few things they went over with me yesterday I can at least hold my ground a bit.

"Begin!"

Shooting her gauntlets, Yang comes flying towards me. I gotta say, she's definitely moving a lot faster compared to yesterday. I ready my weapon and lie in wait. As she soars at me I twist to dodge. Seeing her fly over me I grapple my chains around her gauntlets and swing her around and down into the floor of the stage. Watching her get up out of the small crater I managed to create with the impact, only one thing flashed through my mind. _I wonder if I could go back in time and just forfeit._

Rushing towards me she landed a right hook. I took the hit, using the knock back to give me some speed. I jammed one of my fangs into the floor and used the momentum from the punch to swing around to her left. She dodged the first attack, but not the follow up. On my way past her I pulled my fang lodged in the floor and wrapped it around her, dragging her down and subduing her for a few seconds. Releasing her I started to spin both of my blades, somewhat in an attempt to create a shield for myself. Moving fast she tries to get in close, but I keep dodging. I could sense something different about her, a sort of venom in her punches that felt they were aimed at me more personally.

I finally managed to catch her in one of my spins, although it did cost me to go into the yellow aura wise. Twisting the chain around her right arm, I dug my feet into the stage and pulled her over my head and slammed her into the wall. At least, that's what I tried to go for. What really ended up happening was with her strength, Yang grabbed the chain with her left hand and twirled me around like a yo-yo. Slamming me into the wall I thought I saw relief on her face for a second before I stood up. Realizing that we were pretty much equal in terms of aura I saw that I could actually pull out a win here. Thinking it was time for my trump card, I close my eyes and welcome the darkness.

The shadows from the curtains and from the audience swam up to meet my feet. Seeing the shock in her face as I moved was amazing to say the least. I had to make this quick since I still didn't have complete control over my new ability, but this should be enough to finish her. Melding my shadows into the wall I hid myself in them. Spreading them out I could tell Yang was racking her brain trying to figure out how to stop me before I attacked. Finally making out my outline in the shadows she jumps to attack, discharging the used shell in her gauntlets she gets ready to pound my face into the ground. At the same time I launch out of the shadows, using their force to propel me forward at the same speed. Twirling my right fang I yank it forward and wrap it around her shoulders, and with a final pull I drag her face first into the floor. In that split second of being dragged down, Yang threw her final punch, shooting me square in the face. As I slam into the wall, both of our auras dip into the red simultaneously.

Glynda takes the stage. "Since both of your auras are in the red, we will call this a tie. You may go back to your seats."

I get up to go help Yang, but she's already hoisted herself up and making her way back to her team. She looked upset. Probably because she's still not very fond of me? I follow her lead and make my way back up to our seats.

I make my way back and sit down next to Drew. "Gotta hand it to ya, that was pretty impressive." I look to him and he's got a dumb smile on his face. This guy just isn't right in the head sometimes. "Thanks. I have to find a way to catch up to you guys soon, or else I'm gonna be left in the dust."

Aiden leans over. "If you want I came up with a few more ways for you to fight. Want me to go over them with you so you can see later if they work?"

"Sure. At this point I'm down for anything."

The next two fights went by relatively quick. Nora ended hers by slamming Cardin's face into the floor with her hammer, and Ren kept cutting at Sky until he lost his Aura. Standing up beside me, Aiden starts to make his way down to his fight. "Good luck buddy. Don't go too easy on Jaune now."

He turns to look back as he proceeds down. "Don't worry. Unlike the last fight, this one I'm aiming to win." At that remark I suddenly felt sorry for the Arc. An Aiden that's not holding back is not an Aiden I would ever want to fight.

* * *

The possibilities of this fight kept running through my head. Fortunately most if not all of them ended in my favor, so this fight was going to be more of a warm up than anything.

As I stepped on stage, I could see Jaune preparing himself. Going through small motions of attack and defense that might help him. No matter what though, I will win this.

"Begin!"

Jaune rushes forward. I transform my gun into light assault rifle mode and run towards him. I jump over him at the last second and start spraying him with gun fire. He turns to block with his shield, but only after I hit him a few times. I flip my weapon into shotgun mode and barrel towards him.

I could see him running a few strategies through his head on how to beat me, but at this point none of them will change the outcome. I dodge a swing at my chest and jam the barrel of my gun past his shield. I pry it so the end is angled at his chest and pull the trigger. Jaune gets blasted a few feet away. Out of the corner of my eye I notice his aura gauge on the screen hit the yellow. Looks like my job here is almost done.

I use my glasses to quickly see the range of the different transformations of my weapon before deciding on the finishing blow. I slide under another swing and take a shot at Jaune's back. Luckily for him he managed to dodge most of the damage I sent his way. Transforming my weapon back into pistol form I rush the knight one last time. Taking shots at him I manage to get behind. As he turns to try and fight me I swing the bunt of my gun down onto his forehead causing him to crumple to the floor. His aura dropping into the red I started to somewhat feel bad for how outmatched he was at this school.

"Jaune Arc's aura has been sent to the red. Aiden Patriarch is the victor!"

Slinging Jaune over my shoulders I started to make my way up to his seat to dump him with his teammates. It was the least I could do for breaking the poor guy.

* * *

As I watched Aiden drag Jaune up to his team I couldn't help but feel proud. My team was finally coming together on their own. I watch as Ruby pat Jaune on the head on her way down to the stage. Aiden dumped Jaune off with his team, apologizing for the inconvenience, and made his way back to us.

As I waited for my long awaited fight, I couldn't help but wonder a few things. One of which was still the question of what to call my weapon. I came up with a few names, but none of them really fit me. The other was what should I do about Ozpin? He is one of, if not the most observant characters in this world. Getting one over him is going to be a challenge. Maybe I could make him fear me? But then I run the risk of him sending Qrow or someone to cut me out of the way.

As I thought these through in my head, the next two fights took place alarmingly fast. Ruby's was barely a fair fight. Dove managed to dodge a few of her strokes, but still went down pretty hard. Russel at least put up a bit of an offense against Blake, but it still ended the same. The two members of team RWBY were victorious.

As I pass by Blake on my way down to my fight she leans a bit closer. "Good luck against the spartan." I slow up a bit to reply. "Thanks, but luck won't have anything to do with my victory."

I take the stage and face off against my strongest opponent yet. She readies herself, as do I. On second thought, maybe I could use a bit of luck for this fight.

"Begin!"

As Glynda shouted for us to start, I try my best option for defeating Pyrrha. As fast as I can I dismantle my bots and release my control cuffs. I disarm myself.

Pyrrha looks to be taken back by my move. I on the other hand felt it only natural. What use was a weapon made of metal against her? Using the few seconds of her being shocked at my move I rush her, she tries to dodge but I manage to sweep her legs out from under her quick enough. Then just so she has less defenses to help her I kick her shield away. I know she's just going to pull it back to her using her polarity, but a few seconds of being defenseless is better than nothing.

I try to attack using rapid punches to throw her off balance, but she just manages to guard using Milo in spear form and her left bracers. In one swift motion she regains her composition and moves back to gain distance, transforming Milo into rifle mode in the process. She attempts to take shots at me while I counter her maneuver. I rush towards her, dodging the shots she sends my way. Getting up close I stop in front of her and use my momentum to try and axe kick her down, but all my foot hit was her shield. She'd managed to pull it back to her and block me. Transforming Milo back into a sword she slashes at me and proceeds to kick me across the stage.

"Come on, you've gotta give me something to work with here." Thinking on my feet, I dash towards her again. Raising her shield Pyrrha prepares for another attack. I jump and drop kick her shield, sending her staggering backwards towards the edge of the stage. Recovering from my kick, I get back up and put all of my weight into my right shoulder. Unprepared for my assault I bash her right off of the stage.

"As a result of a ring out, Drew Azzurum is the winner!" The words rang out over the shocked crowd. Nobody had managed to best the spartan prodigy in combat yet, and somehow this student did. Without his weapon no less. I look out over the faces as I run down the stage to Pyrrha.

"I apologize for the cruelness of that fight. I just couldn't think of any other way to win." I say as I try to help her up. As she stands she looks at me. "No, it was smart. Tossing your gauntlets away was a good distraction, plus I really would have thrown you around like a rag doll if you hadn't. It was a good move."

"Thanks." We walk back up to our seats. I apologize one last time before heading to my teammates.

Pouting Lucas stares away from me. "Why do you get to be the strongest?"

I sit down next to him. I get where he's coming from. Before we were brought here I was the weak link. The workaholic. Before this I had never worked out a day in my life, and now I'm the strongest in a class filled with warriors. "Well, this is my calling. I've dreamt of this for the longest time. That if I had the chance to fight, to do what is right, then maybe I could become someone strong. Someone reliant."

He looks over to me with a face that asked are you being serious right now? "I was joking. Why do you always turn everything into either a philosophical explanation or a pun? I'm glad your not the old you. You seem to be doing a lot better. A lot less depressing." He finishes with a slight smirk on his face.

I bump his shoulder. "Thanks." I attempt to settle into my chair when Iris pushes past us.

"Well boys, if your done with your little bromance moment I have an heiress to pummel." She continues past us and skips down to the stage. Lucas leans a bit my way. "Does she always have to be so condescending?"

* * *

So what if my leader and close friend just defeated the best fighter in the class? It isn't anything that special. I'm sure I can knock out that Achilles knock off same as him, if not faster. No offense to this ice queen, but I think I'll practice my take down time on her.

Coming face to face with the heiress, I could feel the loathing radiating off of her. Did she hate faunus? I would have to ask Drew later if she did or not. Maybe she just really wants to win. If that's the case, then I should try to end this as quick as possible.

"Good luck ice queen." I say with a smug face. She just looks at me, her eyes burning into my skull. Rage was a good ally to have when your opponent is blinded by it.

"Begin!"

In a heartbeat the Schnee summoned a glyph to propel herself towards me. Thinking fast I unsheathe Dualtity's Edge and combined them into their bow form. Grabbing an arrow I release it at the girl as she's racing towards me. Hitting Myrtenaster the arrow splits into five, twirling around the rapier and hitting the target holding the weapon.

"Cheap shot" The heiress retorted after getting up from the hit. She back flips in the air, then launches off of another glyph. I brace myself and reflect her attack with my bow. Notching another arrow I let it loose, freezing the heiress' feet to the floor for a few seconds. I jump back to gain some distance before she melts the ice. Using her time dilation glyph, she rushes me hoping to have the advantage of speed. Using my semblance to see ahead of her, I race forwards. Just as we're about to hit, I jump over and behind her. Thinking this is just how I won my last match against Blake she forms a protective glyph above her to stop anything from hitting her from up high. Good thing I didn't copy myself. I touch down on her other side and pull my blades apart, rushing towards her I cut her down from the side as she's still worried about what's above her.

Glancing up I notice that her aura's dipped into the yellow. Finally. I smile to myself as I get ready for the end. Regaining her composure from that last hit, Weiss switched over to fire dust and charges at me. I cross my swords and lie in wait for her. As her rapier enters my cross I move my right blade over, sliding Myrtenaster along the other blade and pushing Weiss to my right side. As she skids past me I side step behind her and knock her in the back of the head with the hilt of my blade. As she stumbles forward I sweep her legs out from under her. Jumping back I transform Duality's Edge into bow form and fire a single arrow to end the match. The blunt arrow hit the heiress' forehead, knocking her aura down into the red and ending the fight.

* * *

"Weiss Schnee's aura has been sent into the red. Iris Korzac is the victor." Glynda announces as she steps on stage for the final time today. I watch as Iris and Weiss both start to walk back up to their seats, thinking to myself different strategies that could help my teammate's form and technique.

"Drew, hello. Are you in there?" Lucas asks waving his hand in front of my face. I quickly grab it and look at him with a straight face. "Yes?"

I release his hand as he sits back down. "Can you believe that she actually won? I mean seriously, that Schnee is pretty talented." I look over at him questioning his reasoning. "What, did you think Iris wasn't that strong? Just wait until I tell her that once she makes it back up here." I relish in his anguish as his face contorts. "No, sorry. It's not that. It's just that if we're this strong now, how can we improve to help fight in this world?"

I smirk evilly as we stand up to leave for our next class. "Oh trust me, I have a few ideas."

On our way out of class Iris was non stop. She wouldn't stop going on about her fight. It almost scared the other teams away from us as we headed towards our next class, weapon crafting and upkeep. We enter and sit at tables. Each table sat two teams and held equipment and tools to help upgrade and repair our weapons. Team RWBY sat with us as team JNPR sat with team CFVY. Team CRDL sat a bit further away with another team that I didn't quite recognize. I forgot who taught this class. Maybe it was in a book or something, or maybe on of the other teachers like Port teach multiple subjects. My question was answered as a teacher I didn't recognize walked into the room.

"Welcome class to your first day of weapon crafting and upkeep. I am Professor Harold Mulberry. Here you will learn new and better ways to keep your choice of weapon up to date and usable. Whether you wish to create new weapons, how to repair your gear out in the field, and among other things just overall processes to help maintain your gear."

Now I remember. I think it was only mentioned offhandedly in one of the books. Maybe in _After the Fall_? After that introduction I started to get a feel for what this class is. Maybe I could tinker with my anchor bands a bit to help with control/performance.

"Today will be an introduction to the main tools you will need to work on your gear, as well as what parts you will have to order to keep your gear up to snuff." As he's talking, Mulberry starts to meander around the room. "As you can see before you, I've laid some tools out for you to familiarize yourselves with. Get used to them, they will be your lifeblood. You may have a few minutes to get acquainted with them, as well as tinker a bit with your weapons. If you already know what you're doing then feel free to move ahead and start taking apart the modular additions to your weapons so we can look into upgrading those in the future."

He returns to the front desk as we all dig into the tools. As I take off my gauntlets to fiddle with them I notice my team as well as team RWBY have all already started to dissect their gear. Iris has removed the twine in her bow to check to see if it's developed any weak points. Aiden and Weiss have started to compare their weapons since they both have Atlas tech integrated into them. Lucas of course is trying to show off to Yang by trying to do tricks with his chained fangs, while Yang is obviously having none of it. Blake has moved over to talk with JNPR and CFVY about their weapons, and Ruby. Well.

"So, how exactly does your weapon work? Do you have to use your semblance to help use it? What happens when some of your nanobots get destroyed in battle? How many nanobots can you control? What exactly are your limits when it comes to creating weapons?" Ruby has entered my space of work and started listing off question after question about my weapon. I smile and push her away slightly so she's out of my personal space. Yang notices how nosy Ruby is being towards me. "I apologize for my sister. She's a bit of a freak when it comes to weapons."

"It's no problem." I say to Yang as I turn back to Ruby. "To answer your questions in order, my weapon works as follows." I pick up one of my gauntlets as I begin to explain it. "On each arm I wear a bracer of sorts that acts as sort of an anchor point. At this anchor point is where I form my gauntlets out of the bots that I have." I pull up my belt with the canisters attached to it. "To construct both of my gauntlets it takes four canisters of bots. Two canisters per gauntlet. Then I have two extra canisters in reserve on my belt in case of an emergency, and two more in my case back in my dorm room. Whatever weapon, shield or armor piece I can think of I can make as long as I have enough bots to create the said item. To address your second question, yes my semblance does play a part in the use of my weapon. I can use just my mind to wield my weapon, but if I use my semblance to control the bots more fluidly I can add a bit more finesse to my creations. As for what happens if my bots get destroyed, well if I have the right tools and parts I can create more. It just takes a steady hand the knowledge of nano tech in order to do so."

In awe of the information that I am telling her, Ruby is infatuated by the workings of my weapon. "So, what about how many can you control? And your limits?"

"Well, when it comes to control I've become pretty adept in controlling a large number of bots on a whim. Although after using say eight canisters of bots for a few minutes I do tend to get a slight headache, and if I spread a bit too thin I might lose control a bit." Taking in this information, Ruby seems to fiddle with my other gauntlet a bit. I wonder for a second if I should have told her all of this. What if I couldn't get her on my side in the future? Knowing my weakness could be a bad thing for me if we ever have to fight each other.

Ruby hands me my other gauntlet as she stands up. "You know, if you could somehow create some default weapon designs and upload them to your anchor bracers, you won't have to spread yourself too thin sometimes." Even though I had already thought about doing something like that, I never thought about it too hard. But when she puts it like that I get how much energy it could save me in the long run.

I accept the gauntlet out of her hand. "Thanks for the tip. I was actually thinking of doing something along those lines. At least a default mode for a shield, sword and possibly my double impact fists. It might take a while to write the code for it all, but I might do just that."

She smiles as she starts back towards her team. "Glad I could help."

I start to get back into tinkering with my gauntlets as she sits beside Weiss. Thinking I could get started on the programming for the default modes I pulled out my scroll and opened up the source code.

"Hey freak, maybe you should leave this academy while you still can!"

Hearing this I look behind me and see the situation unfolding. Cardin is holding one of Velvet's ears as he's threatening her. I notice that the rest of his team are between him and the rest of team CFVY. I look to the front desk and see that Professor Mulberry is absent. Great, just the perfect time for him to be taking a bathroom break. I rise from my seat as the rest of our table starts to notice the commotion.

As I start to get closer to him I hear him more clearly. "You faunus scum are the reason the world is like this. Split apart and unable to repair itself. You all make me sick."

My blood starts to boil upon hearing his words. I like to think I don't have any anger issues, but those that push me on a particularly bad day know that to be a lie. I can feel my eye twitching as I approach Cardin. Pulling myself together I place my hand on his shoulder. Letting go of Velvet he turns to face me. I put on a facade and with a smile I say one word.

"Hey"

* * *

I didn't particularly think I would be in Ozpin's office so early on in the timeline, but it does make sense due to the situation. After dragging me up here, Glynda took her leave. Hoping to make it to the bottom floor before the rage of the headmaster brought the tower down. Hearing the elevator start its descent I began to wonder what Ozpin would do to me now. If looks could kill, and if somehow I was a timelord, then I would already be out of regenerations. After all of this time I didn't think anything could unsettle me, but his eyes. They chilled me to the bone.

"Mr. Azzurum. Would you mind telling me what you did. And why."

I thought for a second that I could try lying again, but there would be no point. Best to just roll with it. "I simply took the natural approach when it comes to dealing with assholes."

"By snapping his wrist, breaking his arm and shoving his head through a window?!" He snaps, slamming his desk with enough force that I felt the vibration from where I was sitting.

"It was the only way I could think to get the point through that thick skull of the racist brute. Several teachers have already caught him while harassing faunus students, but none of them took action. At least not the right action if he kept on hurting his fellow students."

"My colleagues have all been very keen on stopping on campus bullying. I know personally that none of them would tolerate our students hurting others due to bad blood in the past. We all care very much for every student's future."

At this I chuckle. "Like you care for your students in the slightest.

He grits his teeth. For a moment I caught a glimpse of his mug before he turns it away from me, a slight crack starting to form at the handle. "I care extensively for my students. Every last one of them. Faunus or human."

Checkmate. "If you care about them so much, then why don't you tell them what they're really out there fighting against? How this fight against the Grimm is a lost cause. How the controller of the Grimm is immortal and they're all killing themselves for naught."

Seeing his face freeze up was a sight to behold.

"Who are you?"

Smirking I decide to work with him for the time being. "In a sense, I'm like you. I died and then came back to life in this body. Although unlike you this is my first reincarnation."

Slumping down, Ozpin starts to put the pieces together in his head. How his personality changed after initiation. The first time he found him in the holochamber, talking with him after class, and now breaking a students arm to teach a lesson. It reminded him of his first reincarnation. How brash he was in the past.

Looking up at me, he finally realized just who he was dealing with.

"Does your team know?

Thinking I should at least keep them off his radar, I decide to keep their reincarnation a secret.

"No, you're the first I've told."

Leaning back, Ozpin let out a sigh. I lean towards him as I see the fury I saw moments before leave his face. "So, let,s have a chat. A dead man to a dead man."

* * *

"It's been two hours since Glynda took him to Ozpin's office. What the hell is he doing to Drew up there?!"

"Relax Iris, I'm sure Drew will find a way to weasel himself out of this situation. He's like a real life Loki in that aspect." Laying on my bed, I watch as Iris paces the front of our dorm room. I look over and see that Aiden is still fiddling with the specs of his weapon over on his bed. It was weird being the only sane member of our team.

"I swear if he's not back in the next five minutes, I will personally storm that fucking clock tower, smash that rotten mug of his over his face, and…"

"Iris! Chill the fuck out! Drew did break Cardin's wrist, arm and possibly his face when he went all psycho on his ass. Not to mention pulling a Miles Morales doing the hand on the shoulder and saying hey to the asshole who was messing with that bunny faunus chick. We should be lucky if he's let go with just a warning this time."

Stopping in her tracks she stands next to door, pouting with her arms crossed. "Well, he should still be back soon."

Almost as if on cue, the door creaks open. Drew walking in as if he didn't just try to kill one of our fellow classmates. "Hey guys, thought you'd all be asleep by know."

Finally relaxing, Iris sits on her bed. "We would have, but you did kind of almost kill another student. Who could blame us if we were a bit worried you wouldn't return this time."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Drew sheepishly looks down. "Ya, sorry about that. I just couldn't stand Cardin anymore. Something just snapped and I couldn't stop myself."

"Well hopefully you got it all out of your system. After what you did to him, Cardin won't be back in class for a few days. Your lucky you got out of the headmaster's office alive." I retort.

"Ha, ya. About that. To do so I had to reveal that I was reincarnated. But don't worry, it worked. I didn't tell him that you three were also reincarnated along with me. He sympathized with the situation and let me go with a warning."

Upon hearing this we all looked at him. Even Aiden sat up and stared at him, questioning if he was psychotic or not.

"Look, it will all work out in the end. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize our plan. Now if you excuse me, I have a busy day tomorrow. You all might have a free day, but I still have leadership class tomorrow." Heading into the bathroom to get ready for bed he ended the conversation.

Falling back onto my bed, I just stared at the ceiling. Wondering how the hell we were going to get through this with how we've already screwed some things up.

"Don't worry Lucas. I'm sure it will all work out fine in the end." Aiden says to me as he turns off his desk lamp, heading to bed. Laying there, I still couldn't help but wonder. Drifting off all I could do was worry about what was to come.

* * *

 **Can't believe it took a sprained ankle to finally get me to finish this chapter. I also can't believe it's been almost 2 whole months since I last uploaded a chapter (sorry about that). I just wanted to get this part over with so I can get to the good stuff which is coming up in the last few chapters. I figured I have at least 4 more chapters left of Volume 1. Good news though, I now have a storyboard that's up to date with Volume 6, so now that I have that finished until Volume 7 comes out I can focus on this more. Also I just have to say this, Endgame was so good I saw it four times on opening weekend. So look forward to Avengers references popping up in the future.**

 **Again, thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **Going for a Walk**

The amount of effort it takes to wake up in the morning is astounding. Waking up early to get a quick workout before leadership class this afternoon required even more. Picking myself up I relished in how quiet this morning was. The rest of my team was still sleeping, and would probably stay sleeping until noon. How could I blame them with how much they've been through these past few days. They deserved a bit of rest. Reaching over for my scroll I see that I got a message a few minutes ago. Now who would text me so early in the morning? And on a Friday no less?

 _Hey Drew, it's Blake. Sorry if I woke you up. I was wondering if you would like to train a bit before leadership class this afternoon. I was going to help Ruby but Weiss, Yang and Nora have her covered._

Wait, she was serious about taking me up on my offer to train together? I just thought I was making friendly conversation. Maybe I should wake Lucas up and ask him what I should do? I've never really had the best luck with women before.

No. This is a stepping off point. I may still be awkward, but I can deal with this on my own. I can't just revert back to my old ways of avoiding people and just barely getting by socially. I do like Blake, but if I tried to date her what would that change in the grand scheme of things? Whatever happens, I doubt much can change from just training together at least once. I open up my scroll and reply back to her saying that I'd be up for it. A few minutes later while I was going through my morning routine she replied back with the training room number. I got dressed and headed out to greet the morning.

I was unsure of what to expect once I got to the training room. I really didn't want to blow it with Blake, so I entered cautiously. As I entered, I noticed that Blake was already in the room waiting.

"And here I thought you got lost." She said as she stood up. It looked to me as if she was looking over her weapon Gamble Shroud to make sure it was ready for training.

I put on a timid smile. "Na, just lost in my own thoughts. I tend to do my best thinking on my feet." In all fairness though I did get lost for a couple minutes. This place is huge. "So, where do you want to start?"

Thinking for a second she replies "Why don't you create a random weapon, and I'll try to find a way to counter it?"

That's actually a pretty good way to train. I should try that with my team later. "Sure, sounds good. Just make sure not to go easy on me." At that she smirked. Did she really like me I wonder?

I transform my bots into Nora's hammer, Magnahild. I figured this would be a good weapon to start off with. I jump into the air, swinging it to bring it down on her from above. Using her sheath she deflects the blow at an angle to move me to the side, then swipes at me. I dodge and hoist my hammer into a more defense like grip. We continue to trade blows until I made a fatal mistake. As I loosened my grip to get a better hold of my weapon, Blake pulls it from my grasp and kicks me in the face.

Staggering backwards I regain my composure. "You know, if there was ever a kick strength competition, you'd be a shoe in."

At that horrible pun she sighed heavily. "You and Yang have a very similar sense of humor." She gives me back my hammer and I disassemble it. "You weren't used to the weight of your weapon. I noticed in sparring class that you only used your hammer transformation when needed, and that you aren't used to using it for drawn out fights."

She picked up on that play of mine easily. "You're not wrong. I prefer a quick weapon that I can maneuver into a heavy hitter when needed." I create Iris' weapon. "I also like to attack from long distance when possible." She readies herself and we launch into battle once again.

This time I managed to land a few hits on her before she gained the upper hand. I had just transformed the weapon into glaive form when she dashes towards me, ducks under my glaive and kicks the center of it to transform it forcibly into bow form. I try to jump back, but I wasn't fast enough. She grabbed the bow and flipped it back and around my neck. It was her win.

"You're not going easy on me are you? Seems to me that you put up more of a fight against your other two opponents." She asks as she releases her hold on my weapon.

I shrug off her question. "I don't like to go all out when I train. Plus if I did then I'll be worn out for class later on." I disassemble Iris' bow and start to fix myself up. "I think that's enough for today. Gotta hand it to ya, using your opponents weapons against them was a smart move."

She starts to get ready to leave as well. "I did pick up a few things while watching your fights."

I smirk as I hold the door open for her. "Aw, just a few things?" She smiles softly as she walks past me and off towards her dorm room. I had to head off for class now which was in the opposite direction. Before she rounded the corner at the edge of the hall, I caved.

"Hey!" I stammered as I caught up to her. She looked at me as if something was wrong with me. "I'm pretty sure your classroom is the other way." She tells me with a semi-concerned look on her face.

"I know. Look, I wanted to ask you something. Tomorrow I'm heading into Vale to pick up some things. I was just wondering if you would like to tag along?" The last part of my sentence just barely made it out before I ran out of air. I looked at her after catching my breathe and she looked stunned. Did I make the wrong move?

"Did you just ask me out on a date? Because it sounds like you did." What! No I just. Oh shit I did. "Well, not exactly. Just two friends heading to town to grab some items to help our teams." Saved it.

She thought it over for a second. "Sure. There's a few things I was thinking of getting for my team anyway. How about we meet by the docks tomorrow morning?" I nod agreeing to the time. "Sounds good. See you then." I turn and start speed walking towards the classroom, trying to get around the next corner before I second guessed myself. I got almost halfway to the classroom before I started punching myself in the gut for thinking I overstepped my boundaries. I mean this was the first time I had ever asked a girl out, and she said yes. Come to think of it, why did she agree to go with me? Blake wasn't exactly a people person at this point in the timeline, and she hasn't met Sun yet to get her out of her shell. So why has she started to open herself up towards me? Maybe it was something I said to her when we first met? My mind was racing with questions, so much so that I nearly headbutted Jaune as we both rounded a corner at the same time.

"Whoa, that was a close one!" Jaune exclaimed as we both stopped abruptly, just short of bumping heads. Ruby stood to his side, chuckling to herself. Probably a bit disappointed we both didn't run into each other. I could see a little bit behind them was Cardin walking in this direction from further down the hallway. Did his wrist heal already? Getting back on track I started wondering why they weren't already in class?

"So, why are you guys heading back this way? Isn't the classroom just down the hall here?" They both looked at me with puzzling looks. "Didn't you get the message Ozpin sent to all of us?" Ruby asked. "He just texted us on our scrolls a minute ago while we were waiting in the classroom. We're to meet Glynda by the Bullheads." I silently cursed under my breathe. "Sorry, I usually leave my scroll on silent." Ruby sighs and motions for me to walk with her and Jaune. We begin to walk in the direction of the docks.

* * *

Blake had waited for Drew to round the corner out of her sight before she broke face. Why was he making her feel this way? The last thing she wanted to do while training at Beacon was to grow attached to another faunus. When she first met him, she could sense that his past was a dark one. Asking to train with him today was one of her ways to find out more about him and his motivations, and what she saw wasn't good. She saw a lot of Adam reflected back from Drew while they fought. She just hoped he wouldn't go down the same path of hatred and vengeance that her former partner had chosen. There could still be time to help him. When he asked her to go to Vale with him tomorrow she saw this as a chance to help him.

No. Who was she trying to fool? Blake began slowly trudging back to her dorm room, silently thinking to herself about how she truly felt about Drew. Was their relationship simply her trying to stop him from becoming another Adam? Or was there more to this that she just didn't want to accept. Either way, tomorrow was going to be tedious.

* * *

I ended up having to take a seat all the way near the back of the Bullhead, leaving Jaune to sit to my right and Ruby sitting across from me. I noticed after I got on that Cardin had chose to sit at the very opposite end of the Bullhead to stay as far away from me as possible.

"So, I thought Cardin was still going to be healing for a few more days. Do you know why he's back in class so soon?" I asked Jaune as we waited for the rest of the class to board.

Jaune shrugs. "I heard his aura helped heal his wrist faster than expected. Probably still hurts like hell for him, will be for at least a little while I hope. You sure did a number on him yesterday. I couldn't imagine standing up to him like you did, let alone taking him down a peg by snapping his wrist and almost breaking his arm."

Ruby leaned forward so she could interject into our conversation. "Ya! I wish I had the confidence to shove him out the window!" She smiled innocently. I could see Cardin trying to shrink into his seat upon overhearing our talk. As if the giant could appear smaller.

After a few minutes, the rest of the first year leaders joined us, followed by Glynda. Finally we were off.

We flew for roughly fifteen minutes, then we descended into a forest. As the roar of the engines died down Glynda started to announce what we were doing today.

"So students, I'll start off by saying from now on I will be in charge of your class. Ozpin has his hands full with helping to set up the Vytal festival, so he will no longer be available to teach this year. Secondly, you've probably already guessed that today's class will be a training exercise. You will quickly learn that my way of teaching is more hands on than other teachers. You will start here and work your way back towards campus. Now, you may be wondering what the twist is, and it's that each Grimm you come across must be defeated before you can move on. I will deduct points for each Grimm you run from. Also you will be partnered up with one of your fellow leaders here. You can't finish this task unless both of you make it back together. You may begin as soon as you hear who your partner is."

Glynda then proceeded to list off the pairs of leaders. I silently hoped to be paired with Ruby. With her speed we would be out of here before supper, but after she got paired with a leader I didn't recognize, my heart sank. Then Cardin got paired with another leader. Good. At least I don't have to worry about him slowing me down.

"And lastly, Drew you will be paired with Mr. Arc. Good luck leaders, I hope to see you all back at campus soon." And with that closing line the Bullhead took off, leaving us in the middle of nowhere. Jaune wasn't the worst leader to be paired with, but he wasn't the greatest. Maybe this could be a good chance to help him out a bit?

We take to following the direction the Bullhead left in and start our brisk walk back. The other pairs of leaders all split up before us to try to attract less Grimm, so it was just me and Jaune. I silently look up our position on my gauntlets, just to make sure Glynda wasn't trying to trick us by flying in the opposite direction. Seems like she left in the right direction though. Maybe she thought that would be too cruel for our first hands on lesson?

We walked for a while before I decided to break the silence. "So, how's your team been coming along? Hopefully there hasn't been too much drama."

He continued to walk beside me, eyes straining in the shadows of the forest looking for any Grimm that might jump us. "It's been a challenge to wrangle Nora in sometimes, but other than that things seem to be going smoothly." He lowers his head. "I still don't think I should've been the leader though." I take a good long look at him. I could see the worry forming on his brow, as if he was unsure. He was being to hard on himself.

I put my arm around his shoulder to give him some support. "Don't talk bad about yourself. You're a good leader. Maybe even the best leader in this year."

He shakes his head turning away the notion. "Pyrrha would've been the better choice. She has more experience, and she does everything with a level of perfection I could never hope to achieve."

At that moment I could sense that something was stalking us. I kept it in the back of my mind as I continued to talk with the Arc. "She might be the strongest fighter on your team, but even she looks up to you. They all do. You may not be as strong or as fast as them, but you can grow to be. I saw your maneuvers during the initiation. How your team fought together. You may not think it, but when it comes to strategies, you're one of the best. And besides if you haven't noticed already, Pyrrha kind of has a thing for you."

He does a double take after my last comment. "No way. She isn't into me like that. Plus she's in a whole different league then I'm in. There's no way that's even crossed her mind."

I shake my head disapprovingly. "Dude, she likes you because when you two first met you didn't know her. You didn't put her up on a pedestal like everyone else. It's obvious that she doesn't like to be in the spotlight. She just wants to be treated normally like everyone else."

 _Snap!_

A Beowolf the size of a small truck jumped out of the trees to try and pin me. Lucky for me I was already prepared for it's attack. I ducked down and created a broadsword with my right gauntlet, digging my feet into the ground. I held myself steady as the Grimm fell on my blade. The shear weight of the beast falling toward me was enough to slice it in half. I stood up nonchalantly and continued my argument.

"Just think about it for now. And also try not to be so dense." I continue to walk as Jaune rushes to catch up with me. We continue to talk about how we both could improve upon ourselves. This lasted for about ten minutes before we reached a clearing.

"Oh no" Jaune mumbled somberly.

"Oh shit."

We both instantly regretted being so carefree. In hindsight what we should've done was skirt around the clearing, instead we walked right out into the open. Right in front of a gigantic Death Stalker. I started to think of a quick strategy to kill the monster, one that mostly had me killing it while Jaune stood back and defended himself, when Ruby and her partner ran into the clearing to our left.

"What the hell are you two doing here? I had thought that you would've been back home by now what with your speed and all." I yelled as I watched the Death Stalker size us up.

Ruby motioned toward her partner. "My semblance might make me go faster, but I can't just leave Grant behind. Plus we kind of ran into a pack of Ursa on our way which cost us a good chunk of time."

Her partner Grant walked out from behind her. "For the record, you raced ahead and found the pack of Ursa. If you went a bit slower and paid attention more to your surroundings we would have seen the signs of the pack well before stumbling on it, and we could have avoided it." Ruby wore a guilty look on her face, not able to hide the fact that it was her fault and just didn't seem to care.

I take a quick look at Grant to see what I had to work with. He was of average build with black hair and blue eyes. I couldn't tell what his semblance was, but his weapon looked interesting. He looked to be holding a trident that could focus it's points inward to become a spear. He also had a hip canister that held a few arrows, so maybe the thing could transform into a crossbow or something. I quickly thought up a few strategies we could use as the Death Stalker finally decided to come and deal with us.

"Alright, here's the plan. I'll..."

 _BAM!_

The Death Stalker had rushed forward at an alarming speed and stabbed it's stinger straight at our group. We all just barely dodged to the left and right of it as it jabbed the ground between us. "Or we could just make up a plan as we try to stay alive!" I shout as all four of us launch into attack mode.

Me and Ruby had similar ideas, both of us running to cut off it's stinger. Unfortunately before we could strike, it reared back and pulled it's tail loose and blocked us both using it's pincers. Grant used the opportunity to run in to try to stab it in the side with his spear, only to have it glance off of it's heavy armor plating not even leaving a scratch. Jaune at least was helping out a bit, dodging it's stinger and slicing at it's legs to stop it from running or turning on us. Remembering how JNPR took out their Death Stalker during initiation I come up with a quick plan that just might work. I look over to Ruby and she nods having thought of the same idea. We both jump back at the same time, Ruby grabbing Grant while I grabbed Jaune. We only had a few seconds before the beast lashed at us again, so we explained the plan as fast as possible. Dispersing we fell into positions.

Grant transformed his spear into a crossbow (called it) while Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into sniper form. Each of them pelted the Death Stalker with bolts and bullets to throw it off balance. Then Jaune threw Grant his sword, shooting it with his crossbow high up into the sky. At the same time I had gained speed on the opposite side of the Death Stalker, transforming my gauntlets into a bo staff I vault over and into the air towards Crocea Mors. Meeting the sword at the peek of it's ascent I grab it and throw it down and impale the left pincer. As I fell I grab the sword and push it even further through the pincer and into the ground. Next Grant transforms his crossbow back into a trident and throws it upwards for Ruby to hit with Crescent Rose to stab and secure the right pincer. Meeting in front of the Grimm me and Ruby make a mad dash towards the stinger.

She started to spin, gaining momentum with every shot from her rifle. I jumped on it's back and pushed myself up and spun left. We both came down on the stinger, slicing a cross near the bottom of the tail. We watched from it's back as it fell to the side, finally immobile. Lastly me and Ruby jumped and stabbed it's pincers with our weapons. I took Jaune's place as he removed has sword while Ruby took Grants place. Holding down the pincer I watched as they both ran under the beast and impaled it from below, casting the killing blow.

We all took a minute to catch our breathe as we watched the thing dissolve into the wind. Deciding it would be best to stick together we start again towards Beacon.

It took us roughly another twenty to twenty five minutes before we finally made it back. The rest of the walk wasn't as eventful as our run in with the Death Stalker, just ran into a couple Ursa and Boarbatusks. Glynda was there waiting as we stepped back onto school grounds. She almost seemed annoyed that we had made it back in one piece.

"Congrats on your return trip. I saw you all managed to take down the Grimm you all stumbled across. Remember this in the future, for if you let Grimm slip past you or if you decide to avoid a pack while you're on a mission, then it could end up attacking someone less skillful in defending themselves. Good job today, and goodnight." She then dismissed us to go back to our dorm rooms and enjoy the weekend. Before we went back though I asked her about our assignment Ozpin had given us before, to which I received a quick jab to my side from Ruby for reminding a teacher about homework.

"Me and Professor Ozpin have very different teaching methods. You don't have to worry about turning it in." And at that I dropped the question. I thanked my small group of leaders before heading off into my team's dorm room. Luckily no one was back yet. Probably off training or touring the school, or just hanging out with the other teams. I take this alone time to pick out some clothes for tomorrow, then hit the hay.

* * *

 **Wow, I can't believe it took me this long to finish Volume 1! In the last few months I managed to write this chapter and three more, so in celebration of Volume 7 ending I'm going to be putting them all up every other day this week. Thank you all, and I hope you enjoy. And yes, it is a Helsing Abridged reference.  
**

 ***Spoilers***

 **Also, that ending though! Can't believe Ironwood let Watts live! And that ending speech from Ozpin gave me chills! Really can't wait to storyboard that whole Atlas arc, but I'm going to wait until Volume 8 comes out so I know the conclusion. I love how Ironwood says he's not going to become Leo, but in the end he pretty much made the same mistakes as he did, but out of fear not cowardice. I am so hyped for all of the reaction videos to follow!**

 **Still can't believe that Penny could become a maiden though since she got here aura from her father Pietro, but whatevs. It was still heart pumping.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **What Could Become Of Us?**

The next morning I was bombarded with questions from my team. Apparently they had overheard of the plans I had made with Blake from her team the day prior.

"So, we don't see you for a whole day and you go and ask a main character out on a date?" Iris scolded. We had all woken up around the same time, so it was impossible to dodge their questions. I continued to get dressed as I retorted. "First off, it's not a date. We're just two friends heading to town to pickup supplies, parts and ammunition for us and our teams." I take a moment while I was deciding what jacket to wear to think of another reason. "And secondly, I would not jeopardize the timeline by trying to get with Blake. I'll admit we do have a lot in common though. We both like to read, we don't enjoy the spotlight and we seem to get along great when we're together. I'll also admit that I do enjoy her company, but other than that there is nothing going on between us." I settled on what I was going to wear, then discarded my gauntlet bracelets. I figured I wouldn't have need of them for today. Heading to the door Iris sighed. "You are totally smitten by her. Just admit it. It'll make things so much easier."

Finally Lucas spoke up behind her. "I can't believe you actually asked a girl out. I don't know whether to be proud or jealous." As I head for the door I look toward Aiden to see if he had anything to add to the argument. Luckily it was just the other two who seemed interested in giving me a hard time. "Look, I'll be out for most of the day. Do some training and work on assignments in the meantime. I promise I won't do anything to compromise us." I begin to close the door behind me as I hear Iris whisper under her breathe. "It's not the plan we're worried about, it's you." I close the door completely and head towards the docks.

I couldn't just let my friends comments make me second guess myself. I know their hearts are in the right place, but so is mine. I just hope they don't do something stupid while I'm away. I could feel the anxiety creeping back into my nerves.

* * *

I made it to the docks just as Blake arrived, and might I say she looked stunning. She wore a casual attire instead of her usual volume one outfit which surprised me, and it looked like someone had did her hair for her. It swept over her right eye and over her shoulders instead of the normal hairstyle she usually has.

"I like the look." She says as we meet in front of the airship heading to Vale.

"Thanks. You're hair looks nice that way." After the compliment came out I mentally rammed my head against a brick wall due to my anxiety.

"Thanks, Yang helped me do it this morning before I left." She explains as she turns her head to hide her slight blushing. I mistook her hiding her face as a sign that I had said the wrong thing. Did I already ruin this? Trying not to push my luck I walk us onto the airship and we chose a place for us to sit.

(Meanwhile in a shrub across the plaza.)

"They look sooooo cute together!" exclaims Iris. They had decided as a team that it would be best to shadow the couple on their date that wasn't a date instead of training or studying for the day. Iris shifted nervously in the bush as they watched the pair walk onto the airship together.

"Yea, can't wait to see how Drew fucks this up for himself though. For as long as I've known him he's never been the one to be social and go out with people he's just getting to know. He's probably in a cold sweat right about now." retorts Lucas. He had been trying to ask Yang out on a date for the past week, and in that time the shy quiet Drew had been able to form a relationship with someone he had just met. "Anyone want to take bets on how far into the date he'll make it before she walks off?" he asked.

"I'll give him at least ten minutes before he scares her off." Aiden answers without even looking up from his scroll.

"I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say she'll turn him down after they finish off their date." Iris added, trying to give Drew the benefit of the doubt.

"I can see her standing him up on the second date." answered Professor Port as he stood beside the bush they were all hiding in.

As a whole all three of them turned their heads to stare at Professor Port casually standing there with his blunderbuss slung over his shoulder. How long had he been standing there for?

He looks at the group staring at him, then does a double take. "Oh, sorry. Is this a team operation? I'll just be on my way then." he apologizes as he walks off.

The three of them question the weirdness of their teacher as they begin to sneak aboard the airship.

(Meanwhile in a shrub over on the opposite end of the plaza.)

"I swear if he breaks her heart I will break his legs." whispers Yang as her hair starts to catch fire.

"Don't worry." Ruby stutters as she pats out the flames. "Blake can take care of herself. Plus I'm pretty sure he's just as awkward as she is."

"Why are we doing this again? We could be using this time to better ourselves through studying, or training. But instead we're just stalking our teammate around while she's on her first date." Weiss asks, shifting uncomfortably in the bush. Why had they decided to hide out here in the first place?

Yang looks over to Weiss, "It's to show our support. What kind of a team would we be if we didn't watch over one of our own in their time of need. Plus I have to keep my eye on him so he doesn't try anything fishy with her."

"Ya. It's a sort of team building exercise Weiss" Ruby defended.

"I agree with Ruby and Yang. This looks like an excellent opportunity to test out your stealth skills and teammate emotional support" Professor Oobleck added.

The three members of team RWBY turned to look at Oobleck, wondering if he'd been standing there the whole time.

"For example, don't hide in a bush and then speak at a normal volume. It's too obvious." He stated as he sipped his coffee and walked away.

Shrugging off that weird moment with their teacher, Ruby took the lead with the other two following in pursuit. Making sure to grab a spot where the couple wouldn't spot them, the two teams with similar goals started their mission.

* * *

Once the airship landed in Vale, Blake and I set out towards the shopping district with our teams shadowing from a distance. It took a few minutes of walking with awkward silence before we made it to our first destination, the dust shop _From Dust Till Dawn_. Upon entering I acknowledged the old man working the counter and headed towards the refills while Blake hung out around the front examining the different variants of dust they had in stock.

After getting the basic refills for me and my team members I chose a few other types of dust that I wanted to use and headed towards the register to pay for them. Upon seeing what types of dust I was purchasing, Blake's eyes widened. Upon exiting the establishment she began to wonder about my purchases.

"The refills I get, but Gravity and Hard Light dust isn't the cheapest. The Hard Light dust especially."

I shrug off the question. "It's nothing. I just wanted to try something a bit different. Plus I have a lot of ideas when it comes to dust combinations and implementation with my fighting."

Next we stopped at the nearest weapon shop. While Blake went to look at the different swords and daggers they had in stock, I headed to the front counter to ask the person behind it for a few key items.

For myself I ended up getting four more canisters to hold more bots once I got the time to make more of them, a backup knife in case something were to happen while I wasn't armed and a small handgun similar to a Glock just in case. For my team I got a dagger add-on for Aiden's gun, a higher tensile bow string for Iris, and a lighter chain for Lucas that would allow for the use of dust with his weapon. As the worker behind the counter rung me up for everything Blake approached with a case of shotgun shells for Yang, an extra rifle cartridge for Ruby and a better sheath for Weiss.

"You can just put it all on my card." I tell the worker as she places them on the counter. She glares at me as I hand over my card to pay for everything.

"Drew, you don't have to. You're already getting a lot, at least let me pay for my stuff."

As the worker hands back my card I decline her offer. "Blake, I invited you to get supplies. The least I can do is pay for yours too. Plus money isn't an issue. I'm not as wealthy as a Schnee, but I'm not going broke any time soon either." We exit the store and start to walk to the next.

"If it helps any, I am cutting back a bit today. I usually spend a ton more whenever I come alone. I have bad shopping habits thanks to my OCD." Smirking, Blake accepts my answer. With a silent laugh she imagines that him and Weiss would be unbearable to shop with due to their bad habits.

Making our way to the last shop of the day, we arrive at the local tailor for huntsmen and huntresses. While I picked out a new belt to help hold more canisters, Blake selects a new pair of combat boots.

"You know, with the right tinkering I could add retractable blades in the soles of those." I point out as she picks out a pair. She looks at me and raises her eyebrows, questioning if I really said that.

"What, they are combat boots. I can't help it if my imagination runs wild with ideas."

Getting a small laugh out of her she places the boots on the counter. "I'm just messing with you. I was actually thinking of doing the same thing. The boots I have now are great and all, but I was thinking I needed something as a sort of backup just in case."

Leaving the shop we talk about what else we wanted to get before heading back to Beacon. We decided to get something to eat from a small café that Blake picked before returning.

* * *

Lowering the large newspaper to better observe the couple, team DLIA watches them enter the café. "Seems like Drew might have this in the bag. It doesn't seem like he's screwed up yet." notes Lucas.

"Oh, I hope nothing goes wrong. I really want this to work out for them. Drew always seemed lonely before. I just hope she doesn't hurt his feelings." states Iris.

"Let's follow them in and grab a table." Lucas adds as the team stands up from their bench to follow them in.

Meanwhile in an alleyway across the street, team RWBY lurks in the shadows trying their best to keep an eye on the couple.

"Did we really have to hide in a dark alley to watch them? I could have come up with some disguises for us." asks Weiss as she avoids stepping in a puddle.

"Well ya, but where's the fun in that?" questions Yang.

"Oh, look. They're going into that café on the corner to have lunch! Let's grab a booth near them!" shouts Ruby as she rushes to follow them.

"What's the point in being stealthy if you're just going to yell?" Weiss wonders as she follows behind the two over ecstatic sisters.

As the two teams reached the doors, both Lucas and Weiss reached for the door at the same time. Accidentally bumping into the girl trying to open the same door as him, he tries to play it cool instead of being awkward.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I should have been more careful. Allow me to get the door for you."

Accepting the man's apology, Weiss steps back to give him room to open the door. "Why thank you. That's very much appreciated. Wait, Lucas! And you two!" Realizing who they bumped into, both teams were taken aback by their sudden run in.

"Why are you guys here?" asks Yang. She did not want to have to deal with Lucas' advances today.

"We could ask you the same question." stated Iris.

Ruby jumps between the two teams to stop the situation from escalating any further. "We were following Blake and Drew on their date around town."

"Same." Aiden states.

"Soooo. Do you guys wanna just grab a booth together so we can all watch them?" Ruby asks.

Taking the initiative, Iris agrees. They all enter, making sure not to be seen by the couple who already had a booth on one side of the place. They all sit down and do there best to hide their faces from view. Yang makes sure to sit as far away from Lucas as possible.

* * *

After our drinks arrived and we ordered our food I decided it was probably not a good thing that neither of us were talking. My anxiety towards socializing was always a roadblock for me when it came to this kind of stuff so I tried to avoid it at all costs, but this was unavoidable. Striking up a conversation was never really easy for me, so I always just let Lucas or Iris do most of the talking back before we were brought to this world. But now I had to be the one to start the conversation since Blake was just as much of an introvert as myself. Deciding on what to ask, I go with a simple question to start out with.

"So, you like cafés?" I ask with as much of a normal face as possible. How in the hell do normal people do this?

Blake was glad that he had spoken up. "Ya. They always feel so cozy." she says as she drinks her tea.

Seeing their food arrive, the two teams continue to keep watch over the pair.

Sipping on her coffee, Yang pipes up. "If he makes one wrong move against her, I will break his face against the window."

"Am I a bad friend if I kinda want to see that happen?" Lucas asked

"No. That just means you're a sadist." answered Iris as she downed her latte.

"Is that better or worse?" he asked.

"Definitely worse." Aiden finished.

I feel like I was too simplistic with my choice of order. While I simply ordered a lemonade and a slice of chocolate peanut butter cake, Blake had ordered what I assumed to be her favorite tea, along with a slice of dark chocolate cake. I'll have to ask Iris when I got back about ordering food when at a new restaurant.

"So, how was life before Beacon?" Blake asks as she takes a bite out of her cake.

Her question took me a little off guard. I didn't exactly live through those years in this body, none of us did. But I did have the memories of it, sort of like I did live them. It was weird like that. Almost like a story written in our heads the moment we all woke up after dying.

"Pretty uneventful from what I can remember. My memory has always been the worst between me and the other three. Ever since our home village was overrun by Grimm it's just been us. We've fought for everything that we have."

She takes a moment to process this. Almost like she regret asking. "So, the money you've been spending?"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. It was my father's last gift to me. Him and my teammate's parents all died trying to protect our village."

I noticed her bow almost flattened against her head, as if she was ashamed of herself.

"I'm sorry for asking."

"Don't be."

Tilting her head up I smile.

"There are worse ways to die. I imagine dying protecting what you love is a good way to go."

Deciding this was as good a time as any to try and get her to tell me her history, I take the leap. If I didn't her it from her, than she would wonder how I knew everything about her in the future.

"So, what about your life before Beacon? Hopefully it wasn't as boringly depressing as mine."

She shifts a little bit, probably wondering if I could be trusted to know.

"It's complicated. I wouldn't want to bore you with the details."

"I have until the last airship leaves for Beacon." I say as I finish my cake.

Backed into a corner, she decided that if she could trust someone then it could be him. She wasn't ready to tell her team just yet.

"All right, but promise me you won't tell anyone."

She stared at me intently. This was the most serious I had ever seen her. I already knew everything, so I just had to be as sensitive as possible.

"I promise."

As she settled into the booth, I noticed she had been on edge the entire time. A train of thought started up in my mind. Maybe there could be more between us than just being friends, but for now I had to listen.

She told me about her past with the White Fang. About how she supported the movement at first, but after their leader changed and they became more hostile she began to have her doubts. She even went into detail about how Adam changed, and why she left him and the White Fang. How she doubted her parents would except her back into their home after what she had done. This was a lot more than what she had told Sun in the first volume, so I began to worry that I'd dug too deep. Why was she telling me this much? By the time she had finished recalling her past and her reasons for attending Beacon, she was on the brink of tears.

"And then I ran. Once I got to Vale and enrolled into Beacon, Ozpin caught wind of me. He excepted me as a student based on my skills, and pardoned me for what I had done while in the White Fang." Finishing, she studied Drew to see if his opinion of her had changed at all. She hadn't realized that she'd begun to tear up upon bringing up her former partner.

Over in the corner, Yang's hair starts to catch fire as she notices her partner's eyes start to get watery. "I am going to kill him."

"There's no way. He wouldn't, would he?" wonders Lucas.

"Depends on how insensitive we think he could be." replies Aiden.

Grabbing Yang's shoulder, Julie starts to ready her bow. "Don't worry Yang. I'll help you beat him to a pulp."

Watching Blake describe her past was unnerving to say the least. It felt like I had gone too far, that I shouldn't have pushed her so soon after we had met. This could be bad.

"It's just I thought that I knew him, but in the end I realized I didn't know the first thing about Adam." Why was she saying all of this? She hadn't meant to go into detail about Adam, but talking about it now had brought up all of her emotions over the situation. She just kept bringing everything back up, and now she was a mess. Maybe she should just apologize to Drew and leave. Just when she was about to stand up though, he placed his hand over hers.

"It was right to leave when you did. Relationships like that are unhealthy for both parties involved. But you should talk to him about it, or at the very least attempt to. Not knowing why you left will probably hurt him more in the long run." Upon hearing his words, Blake felt calm. Looking into his eyes, she could see that he understood where she was coming from.

"Just remember one thing. When you do confront him, you won't be alone. There are people here that have your back now. Me, our teams, team JNPR and even team CFVY are all looking out for each other. Hell, they care so much that both of our teams have been tailing us ever since we left Beacon."

Looking around she notices the suspiciously large group of individuals trying to hide or look casual on the other side of the café.

"So, if you ever need help or someone to lean on, we're always here for you."

Taking all of this in, Blake finally felt calm for almost the first time since she had escaped and arrived in Vale.

"Thanks. Sorry for bringing the mood down." replied Blake. Smiling she finally relaxed a bit.

"You don't have to be sorry. I kind of like being needed for once." Drew added. He couldn't believe that he had actually managed to make it through this without ruining their evening together. Maybe things could work out. Standing up, I left a tip and motioned toward the door. "Now, shall we head off? We don't want to miss our ride back to school."

Standing up she laced her arm around my own. "Actually there is one more place I'd like to visit." I nod and she pulls me out the door. Jogging at quiet a fast pace, my only guess would be that she didn't want our teams to follow us. Did she want to be alone with me? After dashing through several districts we finally slowed down once we reached a park. We walked down a winding path towards a beautiful fountain surrounded by a flower garden. We stood in front of the fountain, her arm tightening itself around mine as I took in the sights.

"After I left Adam, and while I was waiting to attend Beacon, Ozpin found a room for me near here. I used to come here every night and stare up at the moon." As she looks upwards towards the sky I can see a slight smile growing on her face. "This is one of the most peaceful places in the city."

As she looked back down, her smile faded. "I don't ever want to lose this, this peace. I just want things to stay like this forever."

Thinking of what's to come, I know it could never be. I look up at the stars and wish that I could tell her the truth. About how to avoid the death and chaos in the future, but it was impossible. My only hope was to ask for forgiveness afterwards.

"Me too." I whisper to myself. Regret and remorse swelled in my chest. It killed me, keeping all of this to myself. "But then there wouldn't be anymore change."

She leans in closer to me. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Before I realized it, her lips were against mine. It was quick, but intimate. It only lasted a few seconds, but to me it felt like minutes. Pulling herself back she grabbed my hand and began pulling me back towards the city. "Now come on, if we take too long we're going to miss our ride back."

* * *

On our ride back to Beacon we got to talking about our teams and plans for the future. Maybe this wasn't so bad. Like I told Blake, we could look out for each other.

When we got to Beacon, I walked her back to her dorm room. As we approached team RWBY's door I slowed to a halt. I almost didn't want this night to end. As she went to enter her room I told her goodnight, as well as to the rest of her team which were undoubtedly listening to us from the other side of their door.

Opening the door suddenly all three of them almost fell over since they were leaning against the door trying to hear us.

"Sorry, we were just on our way to the bathroom." Ruby stated innocently as she regained her balance, scratching her head as she tried to act normal.

I smirk at her excuse. "All of you?" Smiling, Ruby just laughed awkwardly.

"Yang suggested it. I was all for training today, but she just had to follow you two." Accused Weiss as she finally broke. Glancing over to Yang, she looked betrayed by her teammate.

"It's okay. It's nice to see that her team cares so much about her, and mine as well." I assured them.

Yang looks back at me quizzically. "Wait, how did you know about your team as well?"

Turning around I exclaim "Because without Blake with you, you all were lacking in stealth." Leaving the three with a shocked expression I began walking back to my dorm. As I rounded the corner I saw Blake push the three of them back into their room, she waves goodnight. I wave back as she closes the door behind her. I could already tell that tonight was the night for gossip.

As I approach my door I go to open it only to have Iris open it and pull me inside.

"Alright spill it. Give us the details." She demands as she throws me to my bed and sits opposite of me between Lucas and Aiden. Aiden had a stern look on his face, while Lucas just looked annoyed at my presence.

Sighing I sit back and get comfortable. "It went fine. I got you guys a couple of things you might like." I pull up my pack that I had brought with me and began digging through it to find what I had bought.

Iris grabs my pack and sets it to the side of the bed. "Not that stupid, your date. Anything happen?"

I almost wanted to go the sarcastic route, but I know that would just piss her off even more. "You all should know how it went. You were with us pretty much every step of the way up until the end. I almost got worried when I didn't see any of you on the airship back. I half thought you all got stuck in Vale overnight."

"So you did see us. Aiden thought you did, but wasn't sure." Relaxing a bit, Iris continued. "Ya, we got back alright. We gave up on following after you both ran out of the café. We caught the second to last airship back after that."

Aiden rolled his eyes. "She isn't telling you the whole truth."

Lucas slapped the back of his head. "Dude! He didn't have to know that part!"

Iris broke them up. "No, he's right. Truth is we did find you after you two ran off. We saw the both of you by the fountain, but it looked really personal so I dragged the other three back here so you two could be alone." She looked ashamed, like they had all overstepped their boundaries.

Grabbing the three of them, I pull us all into a big hug.

"Thanks."

Releasing them I fall back onto my bed. "You're all looking out for us. We're all looking out for each other. I don't know what I would do without you guys."

After that we all decided we needed some rest after today's events. As we were drifting off I did have to add one thing though.

"Oh, and for the record, she did kiss me." I state before falling asleep. That night was one of the first nights I slept peacefully in a while.

* * *

 **I couldn't help myself. I'm just going to release all of these chapters one a day.**

 **So this chapter took the longest to write, and I think you all can see why. This was a lot of character development and set up for the future, so I hope I did it justice. What else can I say except I fully support Bumblebee, and I hope you give this ship a chance.  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **The Confrontation**

Everything I had experienced the day before felt like a dream. As I woke up I almost questioned if my date with Blake had really happened. Checking my supplies I confirmed that I did purchase what I had yesterday, so it must have happened. I nearly jumped with joy, but quickly realized that the rest of my team was still asleep. I sort out what I had bought and made a few adjustments to them. After that I decided to grab some breakfast while I waited for the others to wake up, Beacon's eggs and waffles were to die for.

After successfully filling my stomach, and narrowly avoiding Nora in the process, I made my way back to our dorm where I found Lucas, Aiden and Iris just finishing waking up and getting ready for the day.

Upon me entering the room Lucas turned and glared at me. "So, aside from your successful date with Blake, which I still loathe you for, did you manage to find what you were looking for in Vale?"

"Yes. I'm surprised you didn't manage to see what I picked up while you were following us yesterday." I retort as I pick out the supplies and start handing them out.

"So, while I was in Vale I managed to procure a few upgrades to your weapons as well as my own, and also some dust that I thought you would all find handy."

I hand off Lucas' dust and the new chain I got for him. "Since I felt nice, I got you a new chain for your Rensa Kiba that's lighter and allows for the use of dust. Now with your new ability I also got you some fire and electric dust since I thought you could make the best use out of these two variants."

Stepping over towards Iris I hand her a pouch of dust and her new bow string. "For you Iris I found this higher tensile bow string that will allow you to fire arrows for a longer distance and more power, as well as wind dust to help improve accuracy and maneuverability."

Lastly I hand Aiden his knife upgrade for his weapon and another pouch of dust. "Finally, I got this for you. An add-on for your gun that will give you some close combat options in the future, and some ice and gravity dust."

After looking over their new upgrades, Iris notices that I still have some items leftover. "So, what about those then?" She asks as she nods towards them.

"Well, these are for myself." Picking up the belt and canisters I start switching things out. "I got this new belt which allows me to hold up to four extra canisters of bots, as well as a few more canisters to hold said bots. I also picked up a knife and a handgun just in case of an emergency. As far as dust goes I got a little bit of everything, but I managed to find a good bit of combustion, gravity and hard light dust I want to practice using. I have a few ideas I want to implement using those specifically. Also it's not something I bought in Vale, but while I was there I did manage to think up what I wanted to name my weapon."

Perking up, they all looked to me with furrowed brows. "You mean after all this time you just now have come up with a name for your weapon! What the hell has taken you so long?" Iris asks with a baffled expression.

"Well, I just couldn't really think of anything that held any meaning to me. That is, until yesterday. Blake really got me thinking in a lot of ways that I hadn't before, and while on the airship back I thought of it. My weapon resembles how I used to be in our previous lives, so I could only think of one name for it. Similitude."

"Latin?" Aiden questions. "Seems a bit too archaic."

"Maybe." Peering down on my gauntlets, I clench my fists thinking of the hardships to come. "But it's perfect."

Opening the door, I start to leave. "If any of you want to train, I'll be waiting."

The three team members looked at each other and followed suit, close behind their leader. If things take a turn for the worse, then they all had to be prepared.

* * *

A few weeks had passed since I took Blake out to Vale, and the situation at Beacon was slowly progressing. I watched as Jaune overcame Cardin and Pyrrha started his training. Lucas continued to try his luck at wooing Yang to no avail, and Aiden and Iris began training and studying together in their spare time. Over the course of this I decided to take a back seat and try not to disturb too much. That is until one day when I was sitting outside of the academy under a tree reading one of our history books. I wanted to do a little research on the great war to see if I could learn anything from that, when I saw Blake running out of the dormitory.

So today was the day then? I suppose she didn't tell her team that she was a faunus, and Weiss found out like she did in the original timeline.

Slipping my textbook into the inner pocket of my trench coat, I start to follow behind her. I watch as she slows down to look at the statue in the center plaza. Slowly, she unties her bow and lets it fall. From behind her I spot Sun walking up towards her.

"I knew you'd look better without the bow." he states. Blake turns to look at him, shocked that he of all people would find her here.

Stepping out of the shadows, I walked up beside him. "I think now would be a good time for some tea."

* * *

Grabbing our order I make my way to our table and slide in beside a still pouting Blake.

"Look if it makes you feel any better, the tea is on me." I assure her as she takes her tea. Using his tail to hold his cup, Sun starts to drink his tea as well.

"I apologize for following you, but you looked distraught. What kind of a person would I be if I just ignored that?" I stammer.

Sighing, Blake sets her cup down. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't just assume things so quickly. Plus if I had just taken your advice from the beginning maybe I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place." Placing a hand over mine, she turns to look at Sun. "So, you want to know more about me as well?"

Shrugging, Sun looks between us. "Only if you want to discuss it. I didn't know you already had someone you confided in with. You just seemed so tense. So on guard when I first saw you. Plus having a Schnee on your team must have been pretty hard on you since you were still hiding it from them at the time."

"No, it's fine. But before we begin I have to ask you something. Are you familiar with the White Fang?"

As Blake began to describe her history to Sun, I could feel her grip on my hand get tighter. I continued to drink my tea as I listened. I had to be here for her. After having said her peace, Sun calmly finished his tea.

"And you didn't tell any of your friends this? If I was you then I would have taken Drew's advice from the beginning and came clean to them. Maybe I'm just too open in that regard, but I feel like that would have been the right choice to make."

Sighing Blake leaned back in her seat. "Having gone through this whole ordeal, I would agree with you. But all of this is a lot for someone who isn't a faunus or hasn't seen any of the hate for faunus to take in all at once. I just kept putting it off until it was too late."

Asking for the check I add my due. "As a fellow procrastinator I understand, but your team is like a family. After all is said and done, there should be no baggage." Paying for our drinks I escort Blake and Sun out onto the street.

"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asks as he walks in front of us with his hands behind his head.

"I still don't believe that the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before."

Knowing that it is them I kept my mouth shut. If I played my cards right I could have a chance to get close to Roman this way.

Sun perked up. "But what if they did? I mean, the only way to prove that they didn't do it is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?"

We all stop as Blake ponders over the hastily thrown together plan. "The only thing is, I've no idea where that would be."

"Well, before I ran into you and your team I overheard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas." added Sun.

"How huge?"

At this Sun stretched his arms out to convey the size of the shipment. "Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."

"And you're sure about this?" questions Blake.

"Couldn't be a more convenient stake out, am I right?" I state glancing over to her.

Resolving herself, Blake nods. "Alright, let's go."

It took us a while to find the shipyard, but when we did there was no mistaking it. The amount of containers filled with Dust looked like it was enough to power a small army. After finding a spot on top of a warehouse overlooking the yard, Sun left to quickly grab some stakeout snacks. After a couple of minutes of silence, Blake decided to speak up.

"So, you were pretty talkative back there. Did Sun say something to upset you?"

Thinking back, I suppose I was a bit too quiet. Perhaps she thinks I wasn't being supportive enough? "Na, Sun's a solid dude. I trust him well enough. I just didn't want to interrupt you will you were going over your backstory." At that comment she punched my shoulder. "What? I thought it would be rude. If I'm being honest whenever I'm in groups of three or larger I tend to be more quiet and recluse."

"But I still could have used your support." Slumping back down, Blake stares off towards the shipyard. "I'm still a little on the fence when it comes to trusting people, and after my argument with Weiss my mind has been in complete disarray."

Stupid. How could I forget so quickly what this all was originally about?

"I'm sorry. Being in a relationship is still a bit new to me. But I promise, no matter what, I will always have your back." I declare.

"Even if my past comes back to haunt me?" she asks.

"Especially if it comes back. No matter how strong Adam is, I will be stronger. I swear."

Tilting her head down, Blake uttered "He will come for me, and when he does he will show no mercy."

"Then we'll take him down together. And for his sake I'll try to go easy on him."

At that she recoiled and looked at me as if to ask if I was serious.

"What? I have to give the guy a chance. If I don't then that just brings me down to his level."

Before we could get into a bigger argument over the subject, Sun returned.

"So, did I miss anything?" he asks as he takes a position on the opposite side of Blake.

With a loaded sigh, Blake answers. "Not really. They've fully offloaded the crates from the boat. Now everyone's pretty much clocked out and headed home."

"Cool." Seeming relaxed, Sun pulls out two apples. "I managed to steal some food for you guys."

"Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Blake questions.

I accept the apple and quickly peel the skin off of it using a small blade produced by my gauntlets.

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun retorted.

I stop midway through my first bite and glare at him. Did he really use that same line even with me here? Perhaps I should correct him. Before I could say anything though, Blake glared at him with an even worse face than I had.

"Okay, too soon!"

A few seconds after that painful exchange, the sound of Bullheads could be heard approaching the docks. Within a few minutes they had reached the containers and started to land, off loading a dozen or so White Fang members.

"Oh no..." Blake gasped.

"Is that them?" Sun somberly asked.

I quickly finished my apple, excited to finally get to meet Roman.

"Yes. It's them." she answered.

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Sun wondered

"No. I think deep down I knew." Blake said somberly as she finally took in the situation.

"HEY! What's the hold up!?" Boomed a voice from one of the Bullheads. Finding the source of the voice, the three of us watched as Roman Torchwick began to waltz down the ramp of a Bullhead near the center of the shipyard.

"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?" He yelled at the White Fang members as he joined them.

Looking over at Blake, I barely had time to read her face before she stood up. I think this was the first time I've ever seen her this pissed off.

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like that." Next, in one movement, she unsheathed Gambol Shroud and walked off the edge of the warehouse.

Peering over the edge at Blake, Sun looks stunned. "Hey, what are you doing!?"

Falling into a crouch, Blake starts to sneak between the shipping crates. Closer and closer, she nears her target. Watching her get closer to Roman, I stand up and ready Similitude. "Welp, here we go." I whisper calmly to myself. I watch closely as Roman approached one of the White Fang members attempting to attach a chain to one of the containers.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" Roman yells as he confronts the faunus. Next, in one fell swoop, Blake got behind him and held her sword against his neck. Rolling his eyes at the situation, he starts to curse. "Oh, for fu..."

"Nobody move!" Blake yells, cutting him off. Seeing the others start to move in closer, she unties her bow.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"

At this I start to cringe. "We're really going to have to work on your speech improve after all of this." I say to myself. This part just hurt to watch. Although some of the members did lower their weapons slightly, looking partially unsure of what to do.

Chuckling at her little speech, Roman spoke up. "Oh, kid. Didn't you get the memo?" he asked her.

"What are you talking about?"

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!" he answered.

Pushing the blade closer to his neck, she started to get even more outraged by his small talk. "Tell me what it is, or I'll put an end to your little operation." At that moment the wind picked up again. I had noticed it before seeing them, but it looked like Blake and Sun were too focused on Torchwick the whole time.

Roman looked up at the looming Bullheads with a smirk. "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation."

Blake watched in horror as several more Bullheads entered the airspace above the shipyard. Seeing his opportunity Roman fires his cane behind him sending Blake flying away.

I watch as Roman engages her in their fight. While I was coming up with a plan to combat him I catch Sun out of the corner of my eye throw his banana peel down at him and leap off the roof. Kicking him in the face, Sun moves to confront him. Well, guess this was a better time than any to enter the fray.

"Allons-y" I walk off the edge and craft a blade in either hand. Flipping once I slash both at Roman which blocked both with his cane. Jumping back I stand beside Sun as more White Fang soldiers fall down to help with the fight.

"Leave her alone." Sun demands as he stares down Roman.

"Hey, that was my line." I tell him off.

"You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you kid?" Roman berates. "You on the other hand scratched my weapon." He said through gritted teeth as he looked over towards me.

Within a few seconds, the White Fang were on us. Most of them were easy to take out, so I decided to leave most of the force to Sun. Jumping over the heads of some of the members I try again to slash at Torchwick. As he dodged backwards I rolled into a crouch and try to go for his stomach only to have him block that blow as well. Our exchange went on for a couple more seconds before Roman decided to try and shoot Sun in the midst of our battle, to which Sun successfully blocked.

"He's mine!" Blake yells as she jumps down in front of Sun and joins me in fighting Roman. As Sun finishes off the last of the White Fang, me and Blake pair up to simultaneously fend of Roman's barrage. Following a few glancing blows, Roman manages to knock Blake down.

"Damn you Roman!" I scream as I launch into a flurry of attacks to try and break his guard. Following my onslaught, Sun joined in having finished off the last of his attackers. Transforming his staff into his gun-chucks we both try our hardest to knock Roman down a peg. Finding an opening, I dash in and pull one of his legs out from under him, to which Blake having gotten back up rushes him from the side and hits him with the cleaver part of her sheath.

Tumbling backwards, Roman realizes that he might just be outmatched by these punk kids. Seeing an opportunity above him, he takes aim and fires at a crate suspended in the air above us.

Watching Sun and Blake dodge in different directions, I realized I wouldn't have enough time to roll out of the way of this one. Readying myself, I quickly create a small exoskeleton and brace myself.

 _Boom!_

Before the crate fell, Blake saw where Drew was standing. Watching the dust start to settle, all she could feel was fear. Fear at the thought that he might not have made it out from underneath that, but what she saw was nothing she could have expected.

Fuck this thing was heavy. Catching the crate had caused a crack in the concrete beneath me. Glancing over quickly I saw the horror on Blake's face as she saw me standing underneath the container, barely holding it up for dear life. Pooling the rest of my strength, I willed my limbs to move and throw the container to my side. Slumping down I began to feel the exhaustion start to creep into my joints and muscles.

"Damn kid. I didn't think you would have it in ya!" exclaimed Roman as he stood in front of Sun. "Unfortunately for your friend here, I don't think he'll be as solid as you." he stated as Sun stared down the barrel of Melodic Cudgel.

Spotting Ruby and Penny across the yard I stammer. "He doesn't have to be."

"Hey!" Ruby shouted with a loud, piercing voice from across the way. Spinning Crescent Rose behind her she stabs the roof.

"Oh, hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" Roman teases back to her. Seemingly distracted by something behind her, Ruby takes her eyes off of Roman for only a second. Using that second Roman fires off a shot at little red hitting her directly.

As he begins to laugh, I notice Penny walking up to the edge of the roof. "Now it's time for the fun part." I mutter. I watched as Penny activated her swords and jumps down to engage with the rest of the White Fang. As she utterly obliterates them I noticed Roman running off to retreat in one of the last remaining Bullheads. Having completed what I came here to do, I just lean back against the container I threw and watched the rest of the fight go down. That is if you wanted to call it a fight. Watching Penny take down most of the Bullheads was rather daunting.

Roman, having made it to the safety of his ship looked back to see the utter devastation Penny was causing. "These kids just keep getting weirder!" he exclaims as he takes off. Having gotten away he relaxes in the cabin of the ship, until he notices that something was different. Why did it feel like there was something in his coat pocket.

Reaching down inside revealed what looked to be a black business card. On one side there was a scroll number, and on the other was simply written Jack o' Lantern. With a sheepish grin he began to wonder who could have put it there while he was distracted.

* * *

After all was said and down, I sat with Blake, Sun, Penny and Ruby as the police did their business. After a few minutes of waiting, I spot Yang and Weiss hastily approaching us.

Jumping up, Ruby tries to talk Weiss down as she approaches Blake but to no avail. Standing up, Blake confronts Weiss. I stand up beside her to give my support.

"Weiss. I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with..."

Weiss puts her hand up to cut her off. "Stop. Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" she asks sternly. "Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours do you know what I've decided?"

Glancing around I notice everyone looks a bit scared and wary of Weiss.

"I don't care!" she states.

I could see Blake's eyebrow curl up as she questioned the Schnee. "You don't care?"

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss asks.

"No, I. I haven't been since I was younger..." Blake starts to explain.

"Upupupupup! I don't wanna hear it. All I want to know, is that the next time something this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates. And not some..." As Weiss looks over between me and Sun, she takes a moment to rethink her description.

"Someone else." she concludes.

Wiping away a tear of joy, Blake answers. "Of course."

Jumping into the middle of us, Ruby throws her hand up in joy. "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!"

With a stern look, Weiss points at me and Sun. "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you two now!" At that Sun laughs nervously. I simply raise my hands to defend myself.

"Hey. In all honesty I did advise her to talk to all of you about this a while back."

Looking at me quizzically Weiss asks "Then why didn't you say anything before now?"

"Not my past to tell." I answer with a shrug.

As we group up together Ruby starts to look around. "Hey, wait a minute. Where's Penny?"

After that we all decided to head back to Beacon together. On our trip back I began to think about what was going on right about now. Ozpin had probably gotten Qrow's message about Salem's pawns by now, and Roman. Well, he's most likely already back to his safehouse.

* * *

As he entered his little warehouse Roman let out a deep sigh. He had not expected that level of offense from those kids. No, students. How in the hell did they even know about that location. And to top all of that off there was the card.

"How very disappointing Roman." A menacing voice from behind him spoke up causing the thief to jump slightly. Turning around he saw who it was that managed to sneak up behind him.

"Whoa! Haha… Wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon." This bitch wasn't supposed to check in for another week, and now she shows up right after we failed one of our biggest heists!

"We were expecting, more from you." Cinder states as she stays within the shadows.

Laughing nervously, Roman thought of an out. "Hey, you were the ones who suggested working with these stupid mutts from the White Fang."

"And you will continue to do so." Cinder snickers. Lifting her left hand she starts a fire in it, lighting up her stiff companions behind her. "We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is a little cooperation."

After tormenting Roman for a little while longer with her presence, Cinder saw herself out. Damn it Roman, how are we supposed to get out of this one alive. Looking up into the rafters he spotted the soul person he could trust in this world.

"Neo." At the sound of her name, she dropped down to stand with him. Showing her the card, she nodded. They had to find a way.

* * *

I took the day after the heist to rest up a bit. I deserved as much, I was completely sore from my fight with Roman. After we had gotten back from Vale Blake had been called to the headmaster's office, so I've just been wandering around biding my time. It was around 9:00 PM when I got the call. Picking up my scroll, I answered.

"Hello?"

After a long silence I heard what I had been waiting for. A voice hesitantly stated "Jack o' Lantern"

Smirking evilly, it took a lot to keep myself from cackling like a villain. "Glad you could call, Jack o' Lantern. I would like to talk face to face. You never know who's listening. How's this Saturday noon at the Crowbar? Sound good?"

There was a pause, and then he answered. "I'll be there."

"Good. Oh, and make sure to bring your little friend along with you. Wouldn't want her to miss out on all of the details now would we?" I leave it at that and hung up leaving him no time to argue. Everything was falling perfectly into place.

After I hung up, Aiden walked out of the bathroom. Aside from him the other two were out getting supper for us.

"I take it everything went well?" he asks.

I look at him with glee in my eyes. "Everything went splendid."

At that, Aiden pulled out his scroll. "Good. I'll inform the other two and prepare ourselves for Saturday."

"Thanks." I say to him as I'm looking down at my previous calls on my scroll. "Looks like I have a speech to prepare."

* * *

 **I could not wait to write Roman into this, and I can't wait to write more for him and Neopolitan. What else can I say about this chapter other than I can't wait to properly write Penny in since I didn't have a chance to add the rest of team RWBY out looking for Blake and stumbling into Penny. I figured it would pretty much go the same since none of my OCs would be involved so I didn't bother with that whole part.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I Do Not Own RWBY**

 **A Well Timed Meeting**

As Roman and Neo approached the bar, all they could feel was dread. It all felt suspiciously like a trap, but with being stuck between a rock and a hard place They had to try something to get themselves out of this. They just had to survive.

Peering through the front windows, he thought it looked empty enough. It was hard to tell though with the glare of the sun against the glass. He was lucky he had Neo by his side. With her semblance they were both disguised perfectly. If things didn't look right inside, then they could just leave. As he reached for the door, he felt a slight tug on his arm. Looking down he saw the worry in her face.

"We're going to be okay. We'll get through all of this, we can't afford to loose."

Watching the two enter, I easily picked up on their disguises. Neo's semblance truly was amazing. You had to pick up on the subtleties in order to notice. The difference in height, Roman's walk, their mannerisms. Once you've learned how to spot the differences, then you're less open for a surprise attack.

"Jack o' Lantern. Glad to see that you're punctual." I state, catching their attention. "If the environment is making you feel uncomfortable about our little get together, then I apologize. I meant to make this meeting as private as possible. If you would care to take a seat then I've saved us a booth. I donated quiet a large some to the owner of this bar to keep it closed to the public for as long as I need it to be."

Shedding their disguise, the pair eyed up the bartender as they walked towards my booth. Roman let Neo take the window seat before he sat down next to her, right across from me. I take the opportunity to order us some drinks to get this meeting under way.

"So, you called us here and you're all by yourself? I must either be crazy enough to fall for your little trap, or you're just as crazy for coming here without backup." He stated

Chuckling, I agreed with him. "I might in fact be crazy, but you mustn't be worried about this being a trap. I simply called you here to have a little chat. Now if it makes you feel any better you can survey the area for anyone waiting to capture you, but if you're satisfied I would suggest having Neopolitan use her semblance to make it look like this place is busier than it is at the moment. Make it seem less conspicuous for us."

Sneering he motioned towards the windows. Placing her hand on the glass, it reverberated with pink shards as it spread across the panes. Nothing on the inside changed, but I could imagine that from the outside of the bar the place looked lively enough to discourage drinkers from finding a resting place here.

"Good, now then let's get straight to business. You're probably wondering why I called you here, and who exactly I am."

Getting to the point, Roman slid my card onto the table. "You were with that cat chick and banana boy at the docks the other night. I'm not an idiot. And I'm guessing that while we were fighting you somehow managed to get one past me and slip this card into my pocket. I was wondering why you were holding back while we fought."

Leaning back I answer his guesses. "My apologies. I was trying not to make it too obvious. My name is Drew Azzurum, and I am a student attending Beacon along with the feline faunus that fought along side me. But aside from that, you're probably wondering why a huntsman in training would like to meet with a criminal like you in private like this." I ask.

"Yes. Thinking about it is quiet odd. If you had wanted to capture me then I'm sure you could have done so back then. Also there's the whole fact that you knew about my partner here, even when she wasn't even backing me up during that heist."

"You are right in that regard. I don't wish to capture you Roman. I want to work with you!" I exclaim excitedly. "As to how I knew about your partner, well that's rather complicated. In the future I will reveal it to you, but now is not the time. So, let's cut to my deal." A watch as the two exchange glances. I noticed a slight intrigue, so I continued.

"I know all there is to know about Cinder and her two cronies. I know about her plans for Beacon, and I know who she answers to. In regards to her plans, that is where you come in. You see during their final operation, you don't quiet make it out in one piece."

At the mention of his death, Roman's mind starts to race. Who the hell is this kid?

"All I'm asking, is that you keep me informed on how far Cinder's plan is coming along. As long as you stick to it, you'll be safe. Now when it comes to the end of your line, I will have one of my teammates step in and rescue you. I don't wish for you to die Roman. You still have much more time to spend in this world. So, after that you two and the teammate I've selected will head to Mistral where you'll learn how I know all of this will transpire."

Roman seemed shocked, dazed and puzzled all at the same time. Looking over towards Neo, he could feel the murderous intent radiating off of her. And if he could feel it, then so could Drew.

"Neo." He whispered to her. "Don't kill him just yet. We need to know more before we take action. If what he says is true, then maybe this is the path we should go down." Sighing, she nods to show that she's backed down. For now.

Getting serious, Roman wonders. "You say I die during our attack on Beacon, and you want to save me? If what you say is true, then what's stopping us from just killing you so our plan doesn't get leaked and then saving myself when the time comes?"

"Because I know more than what I'm letting on. Plus I highly doubt you'd be able to avoid your own death without my very specific knowledge on how to do so. And if you could kill me, I already have several ways to ensure that what I know won't be lost." Crossing my hands on the table, I finally get to the main point. "Now then, about the plan. I won't necessarily go against it, but I do wish to tweak a few things along the way. And while all of it starts to unfold, I would like you to join me. I also wish to try and recruit Cinder and her two followers before things turn south."

At that last statement, Roman couldn't help but cackle with laughter. "Recruit us? You, a kid, wants to recruit us? And not just us, but the one person above me that has threatened to kill us if we don't do what she says. Now that is adorable."

I tilt my head at his assumption. "I'm a lot older than I look Roman. And besides, if you join me then I can guarantee you'll live through Beacon's demise."

Looking me dead in the eyes, Roman thinks it over. If Cinder ever found out, then she would burn a hole through his chest.

"What exactly is your goal?" he asks.

I could tell this was it. The turning point. If I didn't win him over now, then they would walk out of that door and I would fail to save him.

"If Cinder's master wins, and she will if we don't stop her, then all of humanity and faunus kind will be wiped out of existence. I know of a way to stop her and put an end to this war in the shadows. After I'm finished with her, then I move onto Ozpin. That is my end goal."

Taking it all in, Neo and Roman sat there thinking. It was a lot to take in all at once.

"We'll join you, if you tell us your full plan." he states

I grin. "Of course. Once I've assembled my full deck of cards, I will explain everything to everyone all at once."

Looking over to Neo for reassurance, all he saw was trust. She would follow whatever he decided on.

"Ah to hell with it. If you know so much already and what you say about the end of the world is true then, what have we got to lose."

"Excellent!" I stammer as I shake his hand in agreement. I also politely hold my hand out for Neo to shake it, which she nervously did. Man I hope I don't get on her bad side. "Now then, I'll need your actual scroll number so I can keep in touch with you in case shit hits the fan. Also for when you have an update for me in regards to changes in the overall plan."

Sliding his scroll across the table, Roman consents. "Sure, but can I not have the code name Jack o' Lantern?" he asks, jokingly holding up the card.

Smirking, I slip the card out of his hand and place another on his side of the table. "Alright. How does Joker sound?"

"Now that I can live with. For at least the time being." he said with a sly grin.

We finished our drinks while talking about our fight at the docks. In a way, it was unusually casual. I let them leave first, not wanting to be rude and just walk out on my own. After a few minutes had past, I thank the owner and take my leave. As I begin to walk, the other three start to form up around me.

Walking up beside me, Iris asks. "All according to plan?"

I keep walking with my head down. An evil smile painted across my face. "All according to plan."

* * *

 **It's finally complete! Gotta say this was the fastest chapter to right.**

 **So I've started production on Volume 2, but it definitely won't be out for a while. Maybe summer at the earliest. I do want to work on some of my own original projects so I can hopefully make a living the way I want to soon. Along with writing Volume 2 I also want to start designing some stuff for this. I've already started on the character emblems, so I'll probably upload that as this story's art sometime soon. I'll try to find a way to link the designs with the chapters once they're completed. Just a heads up though, I'm shit at drawing people so it's going to take a lot of time to get it all right.**

 **Thank you all for reading this, and I hope you all look forward to the future of this story.**

 **P.S. If you really liked that Watts vs Ironwood fight and the soundtrack to Metal Gear Rising Revengeance I took the song _It Has to Be This Way_ from the final boss fight and dubbed over their fight on the gravity platforms. It's on my Youtube channel. I really wanted to use Collective Consciousness, but I just couldn't get the song to line up to the fight choreography.**


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